Resist Control
by LittleHandGernade
Summary: Addie has learned that she is the key element in Klaus' new plans and Damon has sworn to do anything he can to protect her. Unfortunately, "anything" might not be enough to save Addie from herself. Worlds explode as magical bonds begin to put strains on fragile relationship and everyone fights for control.
1. Chapter 1

I own no rights. This is simply for amusement.

* * *

The familiar smell of cloves, ginger and sandalwood were the first things Addie registered. Realizing it wasn't the icy water under Wickery Bridge that she was trying to breathe, she inhaled sharply and relished the way her lungs expanded. No longer did the chill of the water seep into her bones. A stifling warmth surrounded her. The soft crackling and popping of a fire filled her ears, a sound much more relaxing than the silent pressure she remembered.

It slowly clicked that she was not in a hospital room; there was no sterile smell, no beeping of monitors and she was _too_ comfortable. A person ended up in one of two places after their car tumbled off a bridge and plunged into the roaring river below: the morgue or a hospital bed. Her parents had gone to one and her sister had woken up in the other in the last accident.

 _Elena._ Elena had been in the accident, too. Addie could feel her heart slamming against her chest in panic as she remembered. Her fingers curled reflexively, a silky comforter getting caught in her fist.

"Ads?" cracked a hoarse voice. A cool hand brushed over forehead; she tried to turn into the touch, a reprise from the heated room. "Ads, can you hear me?"

"'Lena?" she croaked weakly, her throat dry and scratchy.

Damon's head dipped as he gave a weak chuckle, a mix of fear and relief. Of course Addie would worry about her sister despite fighting for her own survival. "Elena's fine."

Addie's shoulders sagged in relief and the small crease of concern between her eyebrows disappeared. The blanket resettled against the bed as her grip loosened.

"Addie?" Damon whispered in concern as she went limp again. His fingers trailed down her cheek; she was much warmer than when he had last touched her, almost bordering on hot. He called out to her again and gently shook her but she didn't respond.

An anxious hand ran over Damon's face as he moved over to the fire. He used the fireplace shovel to scoop up the ashes at the bottom.

"She woke up? You were saying her name. I thought I heard her," Elena said apprehensively from over Damon's shoulder. She hadn't mastered the art of moving with silence but she had made it to his room from downstairs fairly quickly. She had only been a vampire for a few hours; he couldn't expect expertise from her yet.

"She got tense and mumbled your name. I told her you were ok and she fell back asleep," confirmed Damon. He used the ashed to smother the flickering red and orange flames that licked at the logs. The active fire was extinguished but the embers continued to glow.

"Why didn't you wake her back up? Why didn't you keep her talking?" demanded Elena, her voice laced with a concern that only an older sister could have.

He exhaled slowly as he stood up. His fingers ran through his hair as he tried to keep his patience; it was a bad habit he had picked up from Addie. Elena had been checking in on her sister every hour since she and Stefan had returned from being held captive by the Founders' Council on Pastor Young's farm. His brother had told Damon the basics of what had happened but Damon had been to worried about Addie to try and figure out what it all meant.

* * *

The whole mess had started with Klaus unnatural obsession with Addie. Before breaking the hybrid curse Klaus, as Nic Mikaelson, had been the benefactor to award Addie a full scholarship to the World of Music summer program at the London College of Music. No one had been aware of Klaus' pseudonym when Damon made Addie promise to attend the program as he lay dying from a werewolf bite. At the airport Klaus revealed himself and threatened to kill everyone Addie cared about if she did not join him and Stefan as they crossed the country in attempt to make hybrids upon completion of the program. He had sent his sister Rebekah to babysit Addie in London and the two had formed a sort of friendship.

Surprisingly, Klaus had done as he had promised and had allowed Addie to return to Mystic Falls before the school year started. The gesture would have been a lot more meaningful if he had he not returned her on the same night he turned of Stefan's humanity and commanded him to feed from Elena in an attempt to kill her. When he found out that he needed Elena alive to make his hybrids but that Damon and Katherine had found out the location of Mikael, Klaus left town, leaving behind Stefan with instructions to protect Elena. It would only be later that Damon would find out that his brother had also been commanded to protect Addie. It hadn't made sense as to why until Rebekah revealed that Klaus believed Addie to be the solution to either a curse or problem. The fact that Addie had specific traits and characteristics that made her unique made Damon concern that Klaus' assumption was correct.

It didn't help that Addie didn't seem to take her own safety very seriously. Addie had never approved of everyone's, namely Damon's, plan to work with Mikael to take out Klaus. She didn't approve of bringing Mikael into the fray because, in her opinion, things were _calm_ and Klaus wasn't an _active threat_ simply because he wasn't throwing people in front of moving vehicles at that point or threatening to kill anyone. Addie had admitted that she was selfish and she believed that inviting a vampire _vampire_ hunter to the town where her vampire boyfriend and vampire friends lived and working with him was a very bad idea and not worth Stefan's freedom from Klaus or removing the _living blood bag_ label from Elena. When Damon and Mikael had worked out a plan, Addie revealed what she knew of the plan to Klaus simply because Klaus had assured her that if Damon succeeded in killing him, it would be _mutually assured destruction_. Klaus had already ordered his hybrids to kill Damon if he died.

Addie had been pretty furious at him for being upset with her for choosing to save his life instead of letting him kill Klaus.

When Klaus announced he was staying in Mystic Falls, Addie invited him into the boardinghouse; Damon still wasn't convinced she hadn't done that just to piss him off. They finally had a proper chat, which only left things more complicated and unclear. Klaus revealed that he was counting on Damon to protect Addie. When she learned that Stefan had taken off with the rest of Klaus' boxed up siblings, Addie handed over a daggered Rebekah in a step towards a peace offering and with her promise to help return his brothers.

With his humanity off Stefan was cold as his sole focus was getting revenge on Klaus. When he kidnapped Elena and threatened to turn her into a vampire to prevent Klaus from making more hybrids, Stefan had broken Addie's wrist. Stefan managed to win a round against Klaus and be the better villain but it wasn't at a price Damon was willing to pay. Long-term, Klaus was likely the greater danger to Addie but he seemed to want her alive. Short-term, Damon couldn't predict what Stefan was going to do and he had already injured Addie once. Damon decided he needed to do something to get Stefan's behavior in check. He told Addie where Stefan was hiding the coffins and they decided to return Kol and Finn while keeping the locked coffin and Elijah to use as leverage should Klaus misbehave.

On further consideration, Damon decided to undagger Elijah to get his advice on how to kill Klaus. Having been betrayed by Klaus and dagger rather than reunited with his family, Elijah had been ready for revenge, as Damon had anticipated. Elijah had advised unleashing the wrath of Kol, Finn and Rebekah on Klaus to keep him distracted while they tried to unlock the last coffin. A successful opening of the coffin revealed that the it contained Esther, just as Elijah had anticipated.

Though Esther made it publically seem as if she wanted to live with her family in peace, she was secretly planning their demise. Using Elena's blood the Original vampires and Klaus were linked so that when one was killed, they all would die. Upon discovering this Elijah promised to kill both Elena and Addie if Damon did not stop Esther. The only way Damon knew how to do that was to disrupt the line of witches she was channeling, which meant he had to turn Bonnie's mother into a vampire. Addie hadn't been happy with his decision and the subsequent fight was messy.

Technically, as Damon liked to emphasize, he and Addie had already been broken up for over a week when Damon took Sage's advice and suggested a three-way with Rebekah when she began to act suspiciously. As he did his best to stress, he never actually touched Rebekah or Sage and all sexual relations were between them. All Damon was guilty of was digging through Rebekah's mind and discovering that there was a second White Oak tree that the family had failed to burn down. Milling records showed that the tree had been used to make Wickery Bridge, which was in the process of restoration.

Feeling hurt by Damon's actions Addie made a rash decision and revealed to Klaus that they knew a second White Oak tree had been planted and Damon would not rest until he found it. In Addie's opinion, if Damon was going to kill Klaus, he deserved to see it coming. Everyone deserved a chance to fight back. Beside, killing Klaus had always been everyone else's obsession, not her. Addie dealt with Klaus the same way she dealt with any problem: reason and logic. She was also fairly certain that part of the reason that she rarely had conflicts with him was because she applied the golden rule to him: the principle of reciprocality- treat others the way you would want to be treated.

Damon never knew of the slight warning Addie gave Klaus. However, it wasn't her information that led to the destruction of the White Oak. Rebekah learned about the tree and the bridge and the plan to kill the Originals from Sage, who sneaked it out of Damon's head. The blond believed she burned all of the original bridge but she didn't know Alaric was in possession of the historical sign crafted of White Oak.

Damon, Stefan and Alaric had fashioned a set of stakes from the sign and distributed amongst their friends. Addie wasn't comfortable with sitting back as they planned to destroy an entire family that claimed they wanted to live harmoniously and weren't doing anything to suggest otherwise. There was the small incident where Elijah threatened to kill both Addie and her sister but, to be fair, Addie had to admit that she'd probably kill someone if it meant keeping Jeremy and Elena alive. She knew how bad that sounded but Addie's morals were questionable. She never claimed to be the saint her sister was. However, it would be hypocritical of her to judge Klaus and his family on their past actions when she forgave Damon for his. There was one thing Addison Gilbert was not and that was a hypocrite. At least she usually wasn't hypocritical. Elena and Damon had a way of provoking the bitter, childish parts of her personality.

When Damon went missing Klaus revealed that Rebekah was holding him hostage in bear traps and torturing him. That bit of information had been a gift but if Addie wanted his assistance in freeing Damon, she would have to reveal whatever nefarious plan Damon was up to. The decision was easy for Addie, the only thing she had to consider was how to convince Matt, Elena, Caroline, and Alaric to give her their White Oak stakes back. She had no issues obtaining the first three, her own, and the five Damon had left at the house. Stefan was already planning to use his and, if she was lucky, would be successful in killing all the Originals before Addie had to deal with Klaus. That just left her with the task of getting Alaric's.

Unfortunately, Alaric had an alter ego with a penchant for killing anyone who associated with vampires. Everyone was fooled into believing that the Evil!Alaric had been suppressed by a powerful combination of herbs that Bonnie made but it turned out that Alaric had not been taking them. When Addie went to ask for Alaric's stake, she was confronted with this dark persona. Evil!Alaric attacked with the intention of killing her but thanks to the grueling hours of defensive training Damon and, ironically, Alaric had forced upon her, Addie was able to escape the fight with a shattered elbow and a significant laceration to her shoulder.

Despite not being able to give him all the stakes, Klaus freed Damon to Addie because the deal was only for her. As she pointed out, she went above and beyond because Addie didn't feel the Originals deserved to be treated like pigs in a slaughter house.

Damon glanced down at Addie as he recalled her the beaten state she been in and the battle of wills that followed her rescue mission. From the middle of her bicep to where her shoulder began to curve there was a clean tear in the blood soaked fabric of her t-shirt. It looked like it was made in one movement with something very sharp as there were no signs of hesitation or fraying. The entire left side of her shirt was crimson. From what he could tell, the cloth had settled so that the extra fabric of the sleeve was covering her injury, sopping up blood. Her left elbow was swollen to the size of a softball and she was taking care not to move it. He hadn't been in much better shape after his session with Rebekah.

* * *

 _*Flashback*_

 _Damon leaned against the Jeep to support his weight and held out his bloody wrist to Addie. Almost simultaneously she held hers up for him._

 _Addie shuddered and struggled to keep from vomiting as her boyfriend's mangled wrist was shoved under her nose. Mangled. His wrist was still gouged open and oozing dark red blood. She couldn't hide the panic and concern in her voice as she pointed out, "You're not healing."_

 _Damon's lips pressed into a thin line as he didn't respond immediately. He was furious at her for putting herself in such danger and he wanted to just ignore her but the fear in her voice hurt him worse than the bear traps. "Vervain on the traps. It just needs to be rinsed off. I'll be fine," he mumbled. When Addie just looked at him doubtfully he snapped, "Drink."_

 _She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Damon, you can barely stand up. You're nuts if you think I'm letting you lose anymore blood."_

 _"But you expect me to drink from you?" he retorted sharply, his eyes flashing to the wrist she kept moving closer to his mouth._

 _"Yes," she said simply. "I don't look like death personified; you do."_

 _"You're bleeding, Addie. A lot. You need to be healed," he grumbled. He didn't have the strength to argue this with her because she wanted to be ridiculous._

 _"I can wait. You need your blood more than I need it at this moment," she told him gently, continuing to use obvious logic rather than resorting to fighting._

 _"You are in pain."_

 _"So are you."_

 _Trying to appear stronger than he felt, Damon used the car to push himself up straighter. "I'm not feeding from you, Ads."_

 _"I'm not moving until you do," she quipped back, not caring if she sounded like a petulant child. Logic didn't work if he decided to engage in a power struggle, anyways._

 _Damon nodded in agreement. "Fine. I'll grow stronger as I heal, at least a little. And you'll grow weaker as you bleed out. Then I'll just force you to drink my blood."_

 _Unable to argue with reason she jutted out her lower lip and mumbled, "That's not nice."_

 _"No but I'm not going to let my girlfriend die because she wants to be stubborn."_

 _Addie lowered her wrist from his face. She wanted to run her fingers through her hair but she knew the movement would hurt. She worried at her lip as she thought. Eventually she decided to take him back home. As she walked to the other side of the car she remarked, "Just remember that's exactly why I did this; I wasn't going to let my boyfriend die because he wanted to be stubborn."_

* * *

Damon had nearly lost his mind when he found out it was his best friend who had critically injured Addie. He'd been wary of leaving Addie unprotected since he had found out about Alaric's dual personalities. However, he'd let his guard drop to focus on killing Klaus because he truly believed his friend had it under control. Alaric was not in control, though. He was not taking the herbs as he was supposed to. Damon could not trust that he wouldn't snap again. There was no guarantee that when Evil!Alaric wouldn't succeed in killing Addie the next time he tried. Damon's only option was to make sure there wasn't a next time.

As Damon plotted the murder of his best friend, Stefan informed him that Klaus had forced Bonnie to unlink the Original siblings, meaning he had only managed to kill Finn, which was a complete waste since the guy was suicidal anyways. The icing on the cake was that Sage, who Finn had turned, and every vampire Sage turned had died about an hour after Finn. Once an Original died everyone who descended from them died. Killing Klaus would have been worth the price of his life if Addie hadn't just risked hers to save his.

Addie rescuing him had screwed his whole worldview up. Addie had put him before getting revenge on Klaus. She had put him before everything. Damon wasn't used to that. No one had ever done that for him. Addie had treated it as if it was no big deal because "that's what it means to love someone," but he had never experience anything like that. Damon had never had someone truly love him the way Addie did. He had always had a selfish relationship.

Damon was used to doing whatever was necessary to protect the person he cared for without worrying about how they would feel because they didn't put him first. Katherine, Elena and Stefan definitely never put there life in danger for him so he never knew what it was like to be put first. It was a guilty feeling. He didn't like it. It made him understand why Addie like him taking on suicidal missions against Klaus even though he was putting her first. Now he had the complicated task of figuring out how to protect Addie and himself.

Damon temporarily set aside the issue of figuring out who started his vampire line so he could determine whether or not he could kill Klaus to focus on Alaric. He had the added motivation to kill Alaric because, as Klaus had said, until Klaus was in possession of the final White Oak stake and Alaric Saltzman was no longer a threat to Addie and Elena, his investments, Damon could consider Addie under Klaus' protection. The idea was very disturbing. Killing Alaric was a simple decision because Damon knew he had to protect Addie but that didn't make it easy. The only reason he could do it with his humanity still on was because of how much he loved her. Damon snapped Alaric's neck over and over until he triggered his dark side but no matter what he tried, he could not get him to reveal where the stake was. All Evil!Alaric would say was that he hid it where vampires would never get it.

Addie had a difficult time understanding and accepting what Damon had done. It required no thought on her part to forgive him, though; she was a slave of the horrific concept of love. It scared her to even think of how badly Damon would have to screw up for her not to forgive him. That didn't mean she had to be ok with his behavior. However, Addie found out that Klaus had pushed Damon to the edge. Damon wouldn't have made the decision to kill Alaric on his own. Damon wouldn't kill Alaric just to protect her. At least that was how Addie justified his actions to herself. Killing his best friend caused Damon pain and that made her livid.

Klaus had caused them, particularly Damon, a lot of unwarranted stress and suffering. If Klaus wasn't the maker of his bloodline, Addie wanted Damon to have a chance to get his revenge. Murdering Klaus wasn't exactly murdering an innocent. No longer was she hung up on whether or not Damon chose to be fair. It was perfectly acceptable for him to plan a sneak attack considering Klaus had stood by while his sister tortured Damon. But Klaus was a force to be reckoned with. If Damon tried to go after him, it would more than likely end up with Damon having his heart ripped out, which was not acceptable. Addie had found the White Oak stake in the portion of Lockwood tunnels warded against vampires. However, she wasn't going to tell Damon about it unless something significantly tipped the scales in his favors of surviving an encounter with Klaus.

At the 1920s decade dance Klaus dug his nail into the tender flesh of Addie's wrist until she bled and discovered that she wasn't on vervain. When he asked her under compulsion if she knew where the White Oak stake was, Addie had no issue lying because she was special. However, when Klaus compelled her to follow him to a cemetery, Addie did as he said and did her best to keep up the illusion that she could be compelled. But somehow he knew how Addie had built up a tolerance to compulsion through drinking copious amounts of Damon's blood to heal her from extensive injuries repeatedly. Addie staunchly denied this, stating that Klaus' ideas were preposterous.

The Original hybrid finally revealed that his plan for Addie involved unlocking her "full potential" and the first step was to make her resistant to compulsion. Because Addie refused to admit that she could already resist compulsion, Klaus decided to initiate the process to train her. Klaus easily shattered through Addie's sternum and ribcage as he reached into her chest and clutched her heart, puncturing her superior vena cava. Reluctantly she drank his blood to keep from dying.

Damon's world stop when Addie told him what Klaus had done to her; how he had nearly killed her. It didn't matter that Klaus had technically saved Addie. It didn't matter that Klaus had some future plans for her. It didn't matter that Klaus would have to send her to the edge of death and save her several times to build up a tolerance against compulsion. All that mattered was Klaus put Addie in agonizing pain and there was a 100% guarantee he would do it again. Damon's one job was to protect Addie and he had failed to do that again. He was not going to let her down again. He hadn't planned on using the White Oak stake he had found stashed under her mattress until he had figured out if Klaus had started his bloodline but that didn't matter anymore. Killing Klaus had been bumped up to his number one priority.

Damon could not try and take out Klaus in the reckless manners he had schemed before. When he went after Klaus, he had to make sure he killed him. There was no room for error this time. Klaus was no longer waiting on the sidelines; he had shown up to play and Addie's safety was at stake. Inspired by his protective, defensive, possessive nature, Damon had an epiphany. He and Stefan would attack Klaus and Bonnie would use the same spell that her mother had used to entomb Mikael. Once Klaus was dried up and as stiff as a board, Damon would stake him just to make sure no one woke him up.

Elena and Jeremy had wanted a funeral for Alaric, whose death Damon staged and blamed on Klaus. Everyone but Addie was at the funeral when Klaus arrived and demanded that Addie and Elena leave town with him at that exact moment since his mother had possessed his sister and was trying to kill him. Addie was inclined to offer Esther her assistance until Klaus informed her that he had turned Damon's bloodline and even offered to call the moral Elijah if Addie if she wanted further confirmation. Addie negotiated with Klaus to leave her sister behind for the time being and she left with him to protect Damon, Stefan, Tyler, and Caroline. Klaus didn't take Addie as far away as she had expected. It turned out that he was waiting for some boxes from Tyler.

After Alaric's funeral Damon, Stefan, and Elena had been approached by Elijah. Damon had been appalled that he'd had the nerve to ask for their assistance in stopping his mother once again. He'd been even more furious to find out that Elena and Stefan considered trusting Elijah after all the times he had betrayed them. It didn't matter that he had revealed that Klaus had started his and Stefan's bloodline and Esther was specifically after Klaus, meaning she was indirectly after them. Damon's proposed idea of desiccating Klaus and then dropping him into the ocean where his body was irretrievable was the best option, even if he had no intention of actually doing that. There was no guarantee someone wouldn't manage to get his body and wake him. Damon was going to kill Klaus even if it meant his life; Addie's life was too precious to risk her falling prey to Klaus.

Unfortunately, when Elijah revealed that Klaus had left town with Addie, Damon had no choice but to cooperate with everyone else's plan. They would help Elijah stop Esther and in return, Elijah would help them desiccate Klaus and the hybrid would not be revived with Addie or Elena's lifetime nor the lifetime of their children. Elijah's plan required that Stefan and Caroline stop Esther as she masqueraded as Rebekah while he and Damon stopped Klaus and rescued Addie.

When Tyler, Damon, and Elijah arrived, there was an exchange of words. Sensing trouble, Klaus ripped into Addie's chest for the second time. Damon managed to throw the hybrid off of her before he could grab ahold of her heart but she still crumpled to the floor, bleeding profusely. Damon had to fight every natural instinct to focus on desiccating Klaus before he saved Addie. When he got to her, he was surprised to see that she was already starting to heal, but not as fast as she should. It had to have been the trace of his blood in her system from the night before working. Still, he made her drink from him again so she would heal quicker.

Addie was furious with Damon for putting himself and everyone else in danger just to stop Esther and Klaus. He had let Bonnie kill Jeremy! And she had been so scared that Klaus was going to kill Damon. That night Addie decided pushing Damon away would hurt him worse than fighting with him since the last time they had talked about him taking his safety more seriously for her benefit had obviously made no impact. She hadn't realized he had been there to tell her goodbye until she woke up and found his daylight ring on the nightstand and found the White Oak stake under her mattress gone. In a panic she had gone after him to try to stop him from doing something stupid but she didn't know exactly where he had gone with Klaus' body. However, Elena did and so she agreed to drive her sister.

* * *

"Damon!" exclaimed Elena after he didn't respond for several long moments and stared at her sisters, his expression blank.

Damon scowled as the sound of his name pulled him from his thoughts. He didn't want to deal with Elena's hovering and Addie wasn't going to want to deal with it when she woke up. He wanted to sit by his girlfriend's and care for her without his brother or her sister interrupting them, just as he had done all day.

"If you heard her talk and heard me speak then you heard me try to wake her back up," he explained excruciatingly slowly.

" _Why_ isn't she waking back?" huffed Elena, her hands on her hip and stomping her foot for emphasis.

Taken aback, Damon blinked several times. While Elena asking ridiculous questions he didn't have the answers to was nothing new, he had never noticed her to do it in such a demanding, pouty and _Addie-like_ manner. The two sisters were such opposites in nearly everything it was striking to find a similarity. He wondered if Elena's transition was highlight a side of her personality she tried to suppress. Perhaps she would respond like her sister.

"I don't know," he sneered. "She literally sleeps through fire alarms."

Elena's lips turned down. When Stefan had arrived at the crash, Elena had still been alert. She had insisted that Stefan save her baby sister first. Addie had stopped moving, stopped fighting and Elena had feared the worse. Almost hesitant she said, "Stefan told me I was in and out of consciousness through the night."

Damon was oddly disappointed by her response. Addie would have given him a smartass remark about how he hadn't been louder than a fire alarm or made some mocking point about how he finally didn't know something.

His arms crossed in front of his chest in an unwelcoming manner; he wasn't going to encourage conversation. They'd already had this discussion twice. "Yes, that's generally what happens when a person transitions."

"Is that what is happening?"

Damon rolled his eyes dramatically and repeated articulately, "I don't know. She sleeps through fire alarms. She could be unconscious or she could be asleep. I don't know, Elena!"

Elena winced slightly at his volume; she wasn't sure if her improved hearing made him seem so much louder or if he was actually being louder. It was obvious that he was stressed. They all were. Nobody knew what to expect when Addie finally woke up.

Addie's heart had stopped but paramedics had been able to restart it after almost fifteen minutes. Neither Stefan nor Damon knew if that meant she had technically died by vampire qualifications. Damon hadn't been particularly happy to discover that she had been admitted to the hospital but she had been hooked up to an EEG and it was reassuring to know there was normal brain activity going on. Other than being unconscious, Meredith Fell said Addie was medically clear and that she should wake up. No one had argued the raging vampire when he decided that he was taking her home.

If Addie was in transition, she should have been in and out of it all night until mid-morning like Elena had been but it had been nearly 24 hours before Addie had woken up for the first time, and that was only for a second. However, Damon had no idea what restarting her heart so soon after _dying_ would do to the transition process. At least fifteen minutes of oxygen deprivation should have caused brain damage and the fact that she didn't have any suggested she was in transitions. It seemed highly unlikely that she would die, be revived and _then_ his blood that was in her system would heal dead brain cells. There were limitations to vampire blood.

But he and Stefan only knew of people who were cardiopulmonary dead, determined by irreversible cessation of heartbeat and breathing, turning into vampires. Addie had been dead but she hadn't been _dead_. It was possible that his blood had healed dead brain cells if her heart had been restarted. She could have been unconscious for so long because her body was recovering from having to have her heart restarted.

There was no clear answer on whether or not Addie was transitioning.

"What do we do?" Elena whispered helplessly.

Damon noted with mild irritation that Addie never would have asked something something so obvious. Elena did a lot of things Addie would never do.

* * *

 _*Flashback two hours, Damon's bedroom*_

 _Elena's fingers twisted nervously. "In your opinion, do you think she's in transition?"_

 _Damon ran an anxious hand through his hair. He sighed, "I hope not."_

 _"Why not? You don't want to spend forever with her?" Elena wonder. She didn't know why she felt guilty for asking._

 _"Of course I do but that's not what she wants. Addie would never go through with the transition."_

 _Elena knew he had a point. The idea of her sister deciding not to turn was too depressing to consider. She turned away from Addie and focused on Damon. "I was surprised when it was Klaus and not you who came and rescued us from Pastor Young's farm today."_

 _Esther had outed the vampires and hybrids of town to the Council when she had possessed Rebekah and they had quickly moved into action. They had actually stormed the boardinghouse in search of Damon but he had quickly hid himself and Addie in his closet. He doubted she would ever complain his wardrobe was too extensive ever again._

 _"I was willing to sacrifice my brother to kill Klaus. Did you really expect me to leave Addie unprotected to save him?" Damon remarked dryly._

 _"Not necessarily. It wasn't just him," she said in a small voice._

 _He didn't notice how his grip on the glass of scotch tightened slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"_

 _"There is one perk to transitioning," Elena admitted as she stood up and moved closer to him. "I remember everything you compelled me to forget. I met you before I met Stefan. You were a stranger that told me you wanted me to get everything from life. Damon, why didn't you tell me?"_

 _"Would it have made a difference?" he asked softly. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. Despite the initial pain, things had turned out well for him. He had gotten the dream: a love that consumed him, passion and even a little danger. He had gotten more; he had gotten a girl that felt the same consuming love and passion. Addie's dream probably involved a lot less danger, though_

 _"You didn't make Addie forget meeting you," Elena pointed out, dodging his question._

 _Damon had never been able to provide a satisfactory answer as to why he hadn't made Addie forget meeting him that pouring night on the road. He had always made questionable decisions when it came to Addie, perhaps because she was always such a riddle to him. He had never met someone who had given him permission to kill them. "No, I didn't."_

 _"Even way back then it was her," Elena said a little sadly. "Did you ever really have feelings for me or was it always her?"_

 _He was confused at the way his heart seemed to skip a beat. Hindsight was 20/20. What he had felt for her had been lust and a possessive desire stemming from his obsession with Katherine. "I wanted you but I have only ever loved her."_

 _"And now it will always be her?"_

 _Damon hesitated, feeling slightly guilty about the trace of disappointment in her voice. He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips as he looked at his Ads, though. "Always."_

* * *

" _We_ do nothing. _I'm_ going to stay because I'm going to be here when Addie wakes up. Me. Her boyfriend. _You_ are going to go somewhere that is not here because _you_ are not someone your sister is going to want to see when she wakes up," Damon stressed, deciding to take a direct approach.

Elena balked, "Excuse me?"

"You and Addie might die for each other but you do _not_ like each other. She blames you for, well, everyone being dead. You think she's a dramatic, know-it-all brat and want to get with me - "

" _I do not-"_

Damon continued to talk over her, "You two can't be in the same room without fighting! Your emotions are heightened from turning. If she's turning, Addie's emotions are going to be jacked up. If she's not, their still probably going to be jacked up just because she's Addie. I don't know how you two ended up in a car together but I don't predict a reunion of hugs and giggles."

Elena scratched uncomfortably at the back of her neck. After Stefan had called to say Damon had staked Klaus, Elena had turned the car around to head back to Stefan to say goodbye to him. Still hysterical from discovering Damon's suicide mission and in a full blown panic attack upon learning he had acted on it, Addie had demanded Elena keep driving _Addie's car_ towards Damon, where they had agreed to go. They had crashed because they were fighting over the steering wheel. Elena hated to admit it but Damon was probably right.

"You're probably right," Elena murmured. "I'll go home if you promise to let me know the second you learn anything. We might not get along but I'm worried about her. If she's… transitioning would… Jeremy and I deserve to talk to her before she makes any decisions. If she's fine, I'd rather not be up all night worrying."

That was a lot easier than he had expected. Nobody deserved to talk to Addie before she made a decision if she was in transition. Talking to his brother was what led Damon to turn. Addie was the only reason after 147 years that he was not inflicting misery on Stefan for that and the Katherine situation. He'd say his Ads was his reward after all that time but he couldn't think of anything he had done to deserve her.

"Take Stefan with you. I'll let you know when I know something solid, ok? She might go in and out of sleep without transitioning."

"OK," Elena nodded. Addie was safe left with Damon. He truly loved her and would put her first. She could trust Damon.

* * *

Again the spicy, musky aroma of cloves, ginger, and sandalwood was the first thing Addie registered. It was stronger this time. The silky, satin material that caressed the bare skin of her arms and legs was all too familiar as well. She twisted from her back to her side, enjoying the softness of Damon's mattress.

A cool, strong had fell against her cheek and from somewhere in the distance she heard her name being called. Addie gave a soft moan of acknowledgement and buried her face further into the pillow. The sound turned into a whimper as closed eyes burned at the warning sign of tears. The pillow had smelled like her cucumber melon shampoo and conditioner. It was _her_ pillow in Damon's bed. She quickly turned her face back into the touch and the scent of his cologne came back. Reminders of him were a comfort.

Addie knew what happen. She knew why they had crashed. Damon had staked Klaus, subsequently killing himself.

The idea was too painful for her mind to handle and everything faded away again.

* * *

Damon laid on stretched out next to Addie, his fingers playing with the hair she had dyed burgundy. Her hair had been its natural shade of chocolate brown, dark purple, dark blue, and the deep reddish, brown since he had met her. She had a habit of changing the color whenever got too bored. He liked that she always kept it so long that it almost reached the middle of her back. He enjoyed toying with it and it had the bonus benefit of helping with her anxiety.

Addie had rolled onto her side about two hours after she had asked about Elena. He had tried to wake her with no success. An hour after that she had begun kicking and swatting at the blankets. He had called out to her and tried to shake her awake several times when silent tears had started to roll down her cheeks but it hadn't worked.

After her summer with Klaus, Rebekah, and Ripper Stefan, Addie had been plagued with flashbacks of what she had witnessed during sleep. She never discussed with Damon what she had seen but before she had left, the sight of a blood bag nearly made her vomit and when she had returned, she had acted unfazed by the bodies Stefan had left strewn through the house one morning. In fact, the only gory thing that still bothered her was the sight of blood on Damon. He couldn't even imagine what she had gone through to turn her so numb.

Her thrashing calmed when he slipped into bed and pulled her into his side. The fact that he could comfort her with such a small thing even when she was so sound asleep brought a small smile to his lips. They both used Addie's excuse that he kept the nightmares away to justify spending every night together but Damon had always wondered how true that was.

* * *

Addie sighed softly as his scent invaded overwhelmed her again. Her silky, plush pillow had been replaced with something firm and cotton covered. A steady thumping beat against her cheek and echoed loudly under her ear. Next to her faces her fingers twisted into the fabric; it was soft and high quality.

"Ads," murmured a soft, tired voice. Her makeshift pillow rumbled with the sound. "Love, wake up."

"No," she mumbled resolutely. Her mind had created a world where she was curled up against Damon and she wanted to relish in it as long as possible. Waking up meant not only losing Damon but facing something worse. A person only woke up in a hospital bed after the wreck she's been in. She obviously wasn't in one. Waking up meant facing the afterlife she hadn't believed in due to a lack of evidence. Most religions she could think of considered you screwed if you died without believing in that particular religion. Addie wasn't particularly keen to figure out what awaited her.

Damon jabbed a single finger into the ticklish spot on her side, making her squirm and press herself harder against him. A wave of relief rushed through him at her responsiveness. He mimicked her defiant tone and insisted, "Yes."

"You're not real. I don't have to listen to you," Addie pointed out as she intertwined a leg with Damon's. His jeans were stiff and scratchy.

His brows furrowed in confusion. "Despite the fact I am real, I don't see how the two correlate. You never listen to me."

Addie groaned in annoyance. "You're dead. I'm dead. _Technically_ , you're a figment of my imagination. That makes you an extension of me. And I listen to me, like, 98% of the time so your argument doesn't even make any sense."

It was a mixture of weariness, joy, and love that caused his laughter. Only Addie would assume she was dead and the first thing she would do would be to argue with herself. He couldn't resists pointing out her logical fallacy.

"You just said you don't have to listen to me, though," snickered Damon. He'd point out they were both alive soon enough.

Making a sound of frustration, Addie did exactly what she would have done to real Damon and rolled away from him, turning onto her other side. She didn't like it when her subconscious tried to argue with her. It took her a minute to figure out a counter argument. Smartly she retorted, "Uh, duh. There's a 2% of the time when I _don't_ listen to myself."

"Well, who do you listen to then?" he wondered, playfully tugging at a lock of her hair.

"That's usually when I listen to the real you, the dead you," she whispered, her voice cracking.

Damon put a hand on her shoulder and declared firmly, "I'm not dead, Ads. Neither are you."

"Klaus started your bloodline and you staked him. My car went off Wickery Bridge and I drowned. I remember drowning. We're both dead," Addie reasoned. Tears leaked out of her eyes, screwed tightly shut.

"Klaus isn't dead," Damon grumbled sulkily. "Force it wasn't you who screwed up my plan. Bonnie did some witchy-woo and put Klaus in Tyler's body so nothing happened when I staked Klaus' body. And Stefan proved to be useful for once and pulled you out of the river."

Her lips pursed as she allowed the hand tugging at her shoulder to pull her onto her back. She supposed it was possible that Klaus' soul had been transported; he had possessed Alaric when he first came to town. And if Bonnie believed that Klaus had started Damon's bloodline it made sense that she would want to protect Klaus since Damon's blood had turned her mother. But nobody had known Damon was going to kill Klaus. Addie was the only one who had known where the last White Oak stake had been. At least she had been until Damon stole it from under her mattress. By that logic…

"It doesn't make sense that Bonnie would put Klaus in Tyler's body. Besides, the bloodline is a physical thing, not psychological. When you - when _Damon_ ," she corrected, as she was having a conversation with herself, "staked Klaus, his body should have been destroyed, like Finn's, meaning Damon still died even if Klaus' soul or spirit or whatever lived on."

Addie was far too logical for her own good. While Elena had figured out Stefan was a vampire, Addie concluded her sister was crazy and explained Damon's superior strength through steroid use, a medical experiment allowed for his super healing and he had some genetic mutation, LRP5, that gave him bones so strong that he could jump off buildings without breaking anything. It took a little compulsion to get her to accept the truth.

He didn't know what it would take to get her to accept that the supernatural was sometimes beyond reasonable explanation. Telling her over and over had obviously had no impact.

"You know, if I could explain the female brain and why you ladies do what you do, I'd market my skills and be a very rich man. Also -"

"You _are_ a very rich man," Addie pointed out. "Well, Damon is."

He rolled his eyes. She was still convinced he was dead, which likely meant she still believed she was dead.

Cool, strong hands cradled her face with a surprising tenderness. It felt like a small jolt of electricity hit her every nerve as soft lips ghosted against hers. Addie gasped softly and Damon kissed her with more certainty. He pulled away gradually.

"That was real, love. Very, very real."

Addie didn't say anything but her hand came up to cover the one resting on her cheek. Her fingers fell perfectly in the spaces between his. The touch felt real. The weight of his head and the silk strands of his hair resting against her forehead felt real. The kiss had definitely felt real.

He could read the doubt and fear on her face; fine lines forming in her forehead and around her eyes, which she still hadn't opened.

"Ads, please, look at me. Look at me and you will see that this is all real," Damon pleaded.

One sapphire blue eye cracked open just enough to find a pair of light eyes with large pupils staring back at her. The room was dim but the sharp, strong features made for a face Addie would recognize anywhere. Her hand trembled as she touched his cheek, a light dusting of facial hair prickling her palm.

He eyes watered and voice shook as she breathed in disbelief, "Damon?"

He nodded and pressed his face into her touch. "My Ads, my love."

"This is - all of this is real? You're really real?" Addie questioned, struggling to comprehend how it was all possible. "We're both dead and in some sort of afterlife together?"

Damon let out a sharp, single chuckle as he propped himself up on his elbow. "Addie, we're not dead."

"I _drowned_ ," she exclaimed, her voice much shriller than she meant. The prospect of death terrified.

"Yes, you did," he confirmed calmly. "Stefan pulled you out of the water and you received emergency medical attention."

"If that were true I'd be waking up in a hospital. I already figured this one out!" she countered quickly.

"You _were_ in the hospital. I figured you be more comfortable waking up here," Damon explained defensively. Addie continued to stare at him dubiously. "Do you _want_ to hear you're dead?"

"Well, no but -"

He held up a hand and shook his head to stop her. "There is no but. You're alive and you want to be alive and that's all that matters." He still wasn't sure if she was in transition. If she was, he wouldn't push her one way or the other but there was nothing wrong with emphasizing that she wanted to be alive. "How do you feel?"

Immediately she answered, "Confused. You said Stefan pulled me out?"

"Yeah." That wasn't what he had meant. That didn't help him.

"How'd he even know we crashed? I mean, he knew we were headed to Lynchburg to stop you."

Addie rubbed at her head as a headache started. The sudden hastening of her heart was deafening as she could hear the blood pounding in her ears. She couldn't even begin to think about Damon _rationally_. He was supposed to be deader than his typical vampire state but apparently wasn't. Her emotions were a mess but primarily she made out a blinding rage.

That was something Damon hadn't even considered. He hadn't cared how Stefan ended up rescuing his girlfriend; he'd been too focused on if Addie had been saved in time to keep her from transitioning.

"I don't know. Does it really matter?"

" _I should be dead!_ Excuse me for being a little curious as to why I'm not!" Addie tersely snapped back at him.

A thick eyebrow arched as Damon considered her reaction. It was possible her emotions were frazzled because she was transitioning. However, Addie was naturally prone to mood swings that could get quite intense.

"You can call Stefan and ask him how he knew," Damon offered innocently as he reached for his cell phone on the nightstand.

Addie made a strangled noise of frustration. Sometimes she swore Damon did things just to irk her. "I don't want to talk to Stefan. I don't care how he knew. I care how I'm not dead! I breathed in that water. I know I drowned."

Damon dragged a tired hand over his face. Addie was either laser focused or had the attention span of a fly. Unfortunately she always seemed to operate on whichever was least convenient for him. He just wanted to distract her long enough to figure out if she was transitioning or not. There was no reason to cause her to panic if she wasn't.

"I already told you that you received emergency medical attention. Why does the how matter so much? The important thing is that you're not dead."

Addie swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. Both hands anxiously dived into her hair, pushing it out of her face. The how mattered because…. The how was so important because….

Damon cringed when he heard Addie dry heaving in the bathroom. Transitioning could be hell on the mind and the body could easily be overstimulated and that could cause pain but he didn't recall anyone ever becoming physically sick.

Addie felt her hair being pulled back as she leaned over the sink, her throat burning as she coughed up clear stomach acid. Her vision was blurry with tears of pain as she squinted into the mirror and she saw Damon next to her, a look of concern etched into his face. When she stopped coughing long enough to catch her breath her death grip on the marble countertop loosened so she could push at Damon's stomach. Addie didn't want to be near him and it had nothing to do with him seeing her sick. She was livid and he was the cause.

"What's wrong?" asked Damon, his concern turning into worry.

"I just pushed you away because I want you to, well, I'm going to give you three guess," she replied snidely when she was certain she wasn't going to cough up a lung.

Damon was surprised at the frosty glare he met in the mirror as Addie reached for her toothbrush. She wet the brush, covered it with a generous amount of cinnamon flavored toothpaste and wet it again. Now, he genuinely had no idea where that outburst of attitude may have come from. It was so unexpected that he was inclined to tilt the needle towards "transitioning" on the mental gauge he created that measured how likely it was that she was.

"Well," he replied, matching her tone, "you can want me to go, you could even be a big girl and use your words to tell me to go away but, well, I'm going to give you three guess as to what I'm not going to do."

It was difficult to scowl with around a toothbrush and a mouth full of foam but Addie managed to do it as she watched Damon pick up his own brush and mint toothpaste. Inhaling deeply, she shut her eyes and did her best to focus on the calming task. She knew her process of brushing her tongue and then dividing her mouth into six region, further dividing each region into three areas and then brushing each area in a circular motion on a slight angle from left to right eleven times was more than a little obsessive but it gave her anxiety if she brushed her teeth any other way. If she did a section out of order or messed up on counting, her teeth didn't feel clean unless she brushed them again.

Knowing Addie took nearly five minutes to brush his teeth, Damon stalled on brushing his own. He wasn't _entirely_ being obnoxious simply because she had started; he was also watching her intently in the mirror for any signs of discomfort. Gum sensitivity would be 100% proof that her teeth were adjusting to become fangs.

When Addie finished she began to nervously pace around Damon's room. Leaning against the frame of the bathroom he asked her, "What are you thinking?"

"I asked about Elena?" she replied, looking to him for confirmation. She remembered being told Elena was ok.

Damon shoved his hands into his pocket. He really hadn't thought out the whole situation of being the only one around when Addie woke up. It left him being the bearer of all the bad news.

He nodded and cleared his throat, "Yeah. The wreck was over a day ago. You've kind of been in and out of it for several hours. The first time you kind of came to the only thing you did was ask about Elena. I told you she was fine and you went back to sleep."

"Stefan pulled her out, too," Addie surmised. "It's amazing he got there in time to save both of us."

"That's, um, not exactly what happened," Damon mumbled, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

Suddenly light headed she grabbed one of the four-posters for support. "What do you mean? You said Elena was fine."

Air was suddenly thinner and breathing was harder. Her legs felt as stable as cooked spaghetti. If Elena was fine then that meant she wasn't. That meant she had...had…

Damon caught Addie bridal style just as her knees buckled. Sitting on his bed, Damon held her in his lap. Her anxiety had been better recently but it seemed to be rearing an ugly head tonight. It could have been the trauma from the accident or transitioning that had aggravated it. More uncertainty.

"Exhale," he instructed gently when he realized Addie was holding her breath. She did. After a second he reminded her, "Inhale."

Addie rested her head against Damon's shoulder as he continued to repeat those two words. Her panic attacks were always spurred by a feeling like she was going to die because she couldn't breathe. One thing she loved about Damon was that he knew exactly how to ease her anxiety. It was the little things he did that helped too, like the way he ran his fingers through her hair in time with her breathing and matched his own to hers.

"You wanna tell me what that was about?" he murmured softly once she had gone back to breathing on her own and they shared a few minutes of silence.

"No," mumbled Addie as she continued to finger the hem of his black tee. "What were you saying?"

"Can we talk about that later?" He'd just managed to calm her down; he didn't want her freaking out again.

"No. What happened, Damon?"

"When Elena fell off the ladder painting Alaric's room and Jeremy took her to the hospital, there was more wrong than low blood sugar. She hit her head, causing internal bleeding. Meredith Fell used my blood that she jacked to heal Elena," Damon explained slowly. His arm around her waist had stopped rising and falling. He gently kissed her forehead and reminded, "Breathe."

A chill so bad ran through Addie that she shuddered. Her blood had turned to ice. Selfishly she had feared for herself; she hadn't known to worry about her sister.

Horrified, she whispered, "When we wrecked Elena had vampire blood in her system. Stefan didn't get to her in time, did he?"

Stefan did reach Elena in time but she had insist that he save her sister first. By the time he went back for Elena it was too late. Damon didn't understand why Stefan didn't just pull them both up at once but whatever.

"Addie, I'm so sorry." Elena could tell Addie the finer details.

"She, but, you said she's fine. If the wreck occurred over 24 hours ago…." Addie swallowed past the large lump in her throat and looked up at Damon with wide eyes, hoping he would tell her she was wrong.

"I'm sorry," repeated Damon. His thumbs quickly brushed her cheeks as a steady stream of tears began to fall.

Addie shook her head in denial and choked, "That's not - that's not fair. That wasn't supposed to happen. I never meant for that to happen!"

"Nobody _meant_ for it to happen, Ads. It was an accident."

"No! You don't understand," she exclaimed hysterically. "I caused the wreck. This is all my fault. Elena being a vampire is all my fault."

Damon held onto her tighter as he realized her breathing was growing short and shallow. "Deep breaths, Addison _._ What are you talking about?"

"Elena and I were fighting and I grabbed the steering wheel!"

Damon hadn't known how Addie and Elena ended up in a car together but he was only slightly surprised to learn that it had resulted in a fatal crash because they ended up fighting. However, when Addie put it that way it did kind of sound like her fault.

"I'm sure she provoked you into doing something so...reckless," Damon attempted to comfort. He knew Addie would call him out if he said it wasn't her fault.

That was true; Elena had refused to keep driving to Damon so Addie could say goodbye to him. She had been selfish and insisted on driving back to Stefan. Addie hadn't grabbed the steering wheel hard enough to direct them off the bridge; that had happened because Elena had insisted on fighting her for control. Still, Addie had grabbed the steering wheel and that had ultimately led to a wreck.

"None of that matters! I have to go. I have to apologize," she insisted, pushing at his chest.

Damon took hold of Addie hands as sobs wracked her body. "Listen to me, Ads. This is not your fault. Elena does not blame you. I've talked to her. She's been here to see you. Elena was worried about you. She did not blame you. If she did not blame you, there's no need for you to feel guilty."

Addie wasn't convinced it worked like that. It was entirely plausible that Elena blamed her and was just waiting for her to wake up to rip into her. Elena could have been genuinely concerned about her and pushing her anger aside or she had been putting on a front to impress Damon. Elena surely blamed her; she blamed herself.

"Elena never wanted to be a vampire and now she is. Even if she doesn't blame me I have to talk to her and make sure she's ok," maintained Addie, her sobs slowly subsiding.

"It's the middle of the night. Wait until the morning the morning to call her," suggested Damon. He was careful not to say that Elena was probably asleep when he knew she was likely awake waiting for an update on Addie. Addie was able to tell when he was lying. If she talked to Elena, her sister would undoubtedly ask if she was in transition, sending Addie into shock.

Addie pushed away from Damon and ran her fingers through her hair. He was right; waiting was the rational thing to do. She could focus on her guilt later. There were still pressing matters she had to attend to.

Her eyes narrowed angrily and she crossed her arms in an unwelcoming manner as she leaned against the wall and stared at Damon. Her voice was as sharp as a knife and as cold as ice as she accused, "You tried to destroy Klaus. You stole the White Oak stake and went behind my back."

He had been hoping she wouldn't pick up on that fact. Damon nodded in silent confirmation.

Addie glanced down at her thumb a the loose fitting ring that rested there, a beautiful blue lapis lazuli stone covered with an ornate, silver 'D'. She was surprised that it hadn't fallen off in the crash or that Damon hadn't taken it back.

"You knew he started your bloodline. You knew killing him would kill you," she accused. "There's no other reason you would have left this," she held up her hand to show the daylight ring, "with me."

He nodded again. "I knew."

"What the hell is wrong with you? What were you possibly thinking?" Addie demanded furiously, surprised at the volume of her own voice.

"What was I thinking?" Damon gaped defensively. "Did you miss the part where Klaus ripped into your chest _twice_?"

"No, no, I was there for that," she retorted smartly. "I was also there for the part where you guys turned him into beef jerky! You beat Klaus. Why the hell did you need to stake him?"

He looked at her incredulously. Was she serious? "Anyone could have revived him with just a few drops of blood and he would have gone right back to hurting you! I didn't _beat_ him. I temporarily neutralized him."

"Bullcrap! You made a deal with Elijah that Klaus wouldn't be woken during Elena's or my lifetime or the lifetime of any children we may have. You were even going to have Bonnie spell the coffin shut for 100 years. I was perfectly safe! Your arrangements guaranteed that," she bit back rapidly. "Admit why you really staked him!"

Damon's brow furrowed in confusion. He had no idea what she was talking about. He had staked Klaus to protect her. Nearly everything he had done for the past eight months had been to protect her. Addie was his world, his life.

"Those arrangements were no guarantee," he argued back. "Bonnie could spell the coffin shut but I think by now we've learned the lesson that wherever there is magic, there is a loophole. Besides, Bonnie betrayed us and put Klaus' soul in Tyler so he wouldn't be trapped in the coffin," he pointed out opposingly.

The spell Bonnie had used to seal the coffin would activate once an Original touched it, creating a bloodlink so that only someone related to Klaus could open it in 100 years. Damon had never intend to hand over Klaus, though. It was all a charade to fool everyone into a false sense of security.

Addie inhaled and exhaled loudly and sharply. Bonnie had to have had her reasons for doing what she did. Seething, she hissed through gritted teeth, "Bonnie is our friend. She is my best friend! We _trust_ her! You couldn't have possibly have known she was going to do that. I know you, Damon. You might not always trust Bonnie but you trust me. And I trust her. You wouldn't have staked Klaus because you believed there was the possibility that Bonnie wouldn't hold up her end. You cannot justify your behavior based on Bonnie's actions!"

"There's still always a loophole in magic," countered Damon, finding the point that Addie hadn't argued.

Fighting with Addie was like trying to navigate a hedge maze. He could turn left with a point and she would shut him down with a solid counter argument of her own. He would make progress for awhile, feeling like he might actually get somewhere only to find out that she had been thinking up the perfect way to block him and he would have to backtrack to where he started. His only clue to winning a dispute with Addie was to look over the walls of the maze and try and see what avenues she hadn't already blocked.

Addie rolled her eyes in annoyance. Damon always had to be so nit-picky and would try to find and find any argument he could, particularly when he knew he was wrong. "And a loophole would be a problem we would deal with _together_ if the problem ever arose. You can't just create solutions for imaginary things! Technically, there's always the chance that I might not get into any college but do you see me trying to hack computer systems to change admittance decisions or asking you to compel my way in?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose Damon exhaled loudly. He had no idea how Klaus, someone who repeatedly attacked her and wanted to use her for some unknown reason, related to something as trivial as getting into college. Addie was only a junior and had a year before she needed to worry about college applications. The idea that she wouldn't get in was laughable, though. Addie was one of those people whose intelligence was so great it caused them to have abnormal social interactions. In her mind there was some logical path between this argument and the possible problem she presented but Damon couldn't follow it. Sometimes trying to make sense of Addie's sense just led to non-sense. For the most part, he had stopped trying to understand the leaps in topics.

Damon decided to focus on the part of what she said that even seemed relevant and yelled back, "How are we supposed to face any problem together when, in 14 years, you're going to be ripped from my life despite the fact that you're going to live another fifty or sixty years after that? Tell me how that works!"

Desperate for a relationship with Addie, Damon had agreed to enter a terminally fated one. It would end but he'd rather have a defined period of bliss with her to remember for eternity than never have a chance to be with her.

Addie had feared there would come a point when he would start hinting at spending forever with him and she would have to consider leaving him because she knew she'd never want to be a vampire. At the time Damon believed that time would come if they were in a regular relationship. However, he wasn't completely, utterly, hopelessly in love with her at the time. He knew now he would never pressure her into choosing a lifestyle she despised.

Despite the new insight into himself, Damon had never proposed lifting the time limit on their relationship because Addie had delivered a devastating blow to him when she determined the length of time. Even though she referred to them as 'money munch parasites' Addie enjoyed children but detested the idea of having her own. She also didn't believe in marriage as it was an arcane institute of social construct. However, they had to end their relationship when she turned thirty because she might possibly change her mind on having kids and if she did she needed two years to find a potential husband (because marriage was suddenly a requirement), two years of dating him, a year of engagement and then a pregnancy at 35. Apparently becoming pregnant any later would increase risk for the baby and her biological clock wouldn't necessarily be on her side.

Kids and a husband were something Addie insisted she didn't want but she was firm on the decision that she needed it to be an option. Damon could give Addie all his love, his protection, and anything money could buy but the one thing he couldn't give her was the family she may want and so he never mentioned amending the time restraint. He would settle for having Addie as long as she would have him; there was no guarantee she wouldn't end things before reaching thirty.

Addie bit her lip as she struggled to find a response. She definitely wanted to talk about the dynamics of their relationships but not about the timer they had set. Plus, this was _her_ argument; she wasn't about to let Damon turn it around when he had been the one to screw up.

"And you know how we would find out about a loophole?" Damon continued when he saw that he had finally stumped her. "When Klaus attacks you again! And at that point it might be too late for me to save you. I couldn't risk that, Ads."

"Klaus' goal isn't to kil-"

"If you say his goal isn't to kill you I'm going to scream," threatened Damon.

Addie snorted derisively, "Is that supposed to scare me?"

"No but it's a really annoying sound."

"I mean, the sound of your voice is annoying and I put up with that non-stop so I'm pretty sure I can handle you screaming," she replied non-pulsed. Damon's lips tugged into a slight, innocent smile. Addie pursed her own to stop the corners from twitching upward. Sternly Addie reprimanded, "I'm really pissed off at you."

"I get that," he said. "I don't get _why_ but I'd have to be pretty dense to not get that you're mad."

"You're pretty dense for not understanding why!" she snapped. "You went on a suicide mission!"

"To protect you!"

"This wasn't about me!" Addie exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Screw some magic loophole! You still had a deal that the Klaus would not be woken while I was alive."

Damon's sky blue eyes bulged out of his head as he gaped at her, "And you expected me to trust those two-faced Original bastards when all they've done is betray us?"

That was, perhaps, an argument she hadn't entirely thought out. Damon had serious trust issues and valid reasons not to trust the Originals. Addie might have been able to tell if Elijah was telling the truth and being sincere because of her special ability but Damon couldn't. A dark, foggy sensation would come over Addie when a she could detect when a vampire was trying to fool or deceive her, including if they were trying to hide her identity. According to Klaus, this was one of the defense mechanism she was born with to protect her in case Jeremy was "activated" and attracted vampires into her life. Addie was also able to resist compulsion, thanks to Damon's help, and if any vampire tried to drink her blood, it would burn and choke them. Damon was the exception to this; when Addie became capable of resisting compulsion, he became capable of drinking her blood. There was no clear explanation as to why that was.

Addie tried a different approach. "Realistically, what were the chances that Klaus was going to revived and attack me?"

"Greater than I was willing to risk," he answered without thought.

"Oh, my god. You _know_ the chances were slim!"

"Obviously not because he's still walking about," Damon retorted.

Tired of beating around the bush Addie accused, "Damon, you did this because you put your damn obsession with getting revenge on Klaus before me!"

"What?" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Addie, that's insane. I did this to protect you." She huffed and rolled her eyes. He gently grabbed her upper arms as he stood directly in front of her. "Ads, you can tell if I'm lying and I'm not. I just wanted to protect you. You are my once in a lifetime. You are my everything. There is no happily ever after without you. Klaus hurt you and he was going to keep hurting you. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let there exist any chance of someone hurting you."

There was nothing to suggest that Damon was lying. Addie shook her head tiredly; she couldn't believe they had to have the same discussion for the 100th times.

"If you killed Klaus, you would have saved me from a slight risk of physical pain but you would have stuck me in an emotional hell," Addie declared as she pushed beyond her comfort zone and met his eyes to emphasize her point. "Damon, you can't stand the idea of me _hurting_. How do you expect me to bear you dying? I'm far more afraid of losing you than anything Klaus may do to me."

Damon opened his mouth but lost for words he closed it again. He shook his head helplessly. The only thing he could say was that he had done it to protect her. Obviously that hadn't been a very good reason.

Addie gave him a small, reassuring smile as her finger flitted through his soft, raven locks. Rather than perfectly styled like usual, Damon's hair was jutted out in several directions, suggesting he had anxiously been tugging at it. She knew it was a habit he hated that he's picked up from watching her.

"I understand how badly you want to protect me because I want to do the same for you but we have to learn where to draw the line," she said, her tone gentler than before.

His eyes slipped close as she played with his hair hypnotically. He hummed thoughtfully, "So, we agree on you not putting yourself in danger and making deals with Klaus to save me when his lunatic sister holds me hostage."

"No," Addie replied curtly. "Klaus wasn't trying to kill or torture me, which Rebekah was doing to you. I wasn't really putting myself in danger. You just get all alpha male any time I go near Klaus."

"Since the guy keeps ripping into your chest and plans to continue to, I have every right to go alpha male," scowled Damon, immediately missing the feeling of her fingers in his hair.

Her face scrunched up as if she were smelling rotten eggs. She hated when Damon was right. "In my defense, he really was just trying to make a business deal then. Now that Klaus is trying to hurt me, you do have the right to be a little more protective. I'll keep my distance if it helps you keep your sanity."

"It will."

"However you have to help me keep my sanity by not running off on anymore suicide missions," bargained Addie.

"I was pro-"

"If you say you were doing it to protect me I'm going to scream," she interrupted, mocking his words from earlier.

Damon pursed his lips in mock annoyance at the impish grin she gave him. He loved her but she could be difficult. He sighed in exasperation, gently cupping her cheek. Earnestly he asked, "What do I get to do to protect you? I can't live with the idea of you hurting, or worse, and knowing I could have protected you."

"Remember that really short period of time where we were both open and honest and ran our plans by each other?" she quipped with a hint of sarcasm.

He groaned slightly. "That was, like, a really long week. How am I supposed to run my ideas on how to protect you if Klaus has you captured?"

Addie rolled her eyes. Damon always had to be so dramatic. "In that case, if there is a chance you're going to die, don't attempt a rescue."

"Ok," Damon nodded simply.

"You don't mean that."

He shook his head. "No. I'm going to do whatever I can to protect you."

"Damon, it's not worth it if I lose you. You agreed to take your safety more seriously before but I need you to actually mean it this time. I could not live with the guilt of knowing you lost your life for me."

The single lamp lighting made it just bright enough that the emotion and sincerity was clear in Addie's eyes. It was obvious how concerned she was for him, how much she worried, how much she loved him. Things were so much simpler with Katherine, and even Elena and Stefan. They would never as him the heart wrenching decision to put his life before their own because the thought of living without him wouldn't kill them.

Resolving to be a better man, a better boyfriend, Damon leaned in close and whispered the most precious words he had ever heard, " _Love is not love_

 _Which alters when it alteration finds,_

 _Or bends with the remover to remove:_

 _O no! It is an ever-fixed mark_

 _That looks on tempests and is never shaken;_

 _It is the star to every wandering bark,_

 _Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken._

 _Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks_

 _Within his bending sickle's compass come_

 _Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,_

 _But bear it out even to the edge of doom._

 _If this be error and upon me proved,_

 _I never writ, nor no man ever loved."_

Addie's heart fluttered in her chest as she swallowed past the lump of emotion in her throat. Too afraid to say three simple words, she had found William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 to confess to Damon her feelings. She had never believed in the concept of unconditional romantic love before as there seemed to be too many logical complications that could make someone stop feeling that way. Damon had managed to convince her otherwise. Damon proved that true love was real.

Pushing herself onto her toes Addie whispered against his lips, "I love you, too."

Damon grinned in satisfaction as her mouth angled against his. Again, Damon's simple kissed shocked Addie to her core. Kissing him was always magical but tonight everything felt amplified. The hair that curled at the base of his neck felt silkier as her fingers twisted into it. His lips were as soft and velvety as rose petals. Eagerly her mouth parted under his. Addie stiffened and clamped her mouth shut as she was struck with another bout of nausea.

Sensing something wrong Damon quickly pulled back. In the dim light he could see Addie's brows furrowed and her lips pursed into a thin line. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Addie murmured as she moved from between Damon and the wall. Still disgusted by the overwhelming taste of mint, she went to the top drawer of Damon's dresser and pulled out a crystal decanter and a tumbler. She poured a small amount of the caramel colored liquid into the glass. Coughing and spluttering, she choked on the drink. It tasted like rubber bands that had been dipped in an ashtray. Baffled, she held up the empty glass and demanded, "What is this?"

That wasn't a good sign. At only $160 a bottle Johnnie Walker Blue definitely wasn't one of Damon's finest scotches but Addie had never choked on it before. Transitioning screwed with tastebuds. He took the tumbler a measured out two fingers for himself. Perhaps it had gone bad in the few hours he hadn't tried it. A peaty, nutty and slightly bitter flavor coated his tongue, exactly as he expected.

"It perfectly good - well, passable scotch," Damon shrugged, setting the tumbler on his dresser.

"It taste like swill," grumbled Addie, sullenly crossing her arms in front of her.

His thumb brushed over her lower lip as it jutted out slightly. Again he asked, "What's wrong? You're pouting."

A great part of her wanted to finally blurt out the truth and tell him how revolting she found the flavor of mint. That wasn't entirely true, though. Mint was entirely tolerable, even delectable, when she was kissing him. Usually. And while she definitely preferred bourbon to scotch, Damon typically had excellent taste in liquors.

"I don't know," she sighed in frustration. "I guess I'm just still feeling guilty about Elena."

Damon frowned. "I don't suppose you'd just, you know, stop feeling guilty if I told you to stop?"

Addie shook her head slowly. "No. I don't think guilt works like that."

"I suppose not." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at her helplessly. "What can I do? What do you want?"

"Honestly, I want to talk to my sister," she admitted, not fully understanding the feeling. "There's nothing to do but wait until morning."

Damon stalled as he considered his options. "Do you want something to eat? You haven't eaten in 36 hours or so."

"I'm not h - actually, I'm _starving_ ," she realized.

Transitioning could cause a person to confuse bloodlust with hunger. However Damon hoped going without food for so long was the source of Addie's hunger. They had managed to avoid the topic and he continued to hope to. Getting her to eat would be a foolproof test to tell if she was changing. Human food would be unbearable if she was.

"You want me to draw you a bubble bath while I whip something up?" he offered with a light-hearted grin.

Damon _did_ have a glorious bathtub that was perfect for soaking in. Addie's shoulder shoved into his as she pushed past him and replied smartly, "No."

"Suit yourself," he retorted, mimicking her tone as she flopped on the bed.

Addie had a strange way of not saying anything and still communicating exactly what she wanted. Or perhaps he just understood her that well. From the drawer he grabbed a lighter and lit several cream colored candles on the bathroom vanity and tucked on the shelf of the towel rack that hung next to the bathtub. He turned on the faucet to fill the tub with scalding water. From the shelf he took a full bottle of lavender and sage scented bubble bath and emptied three-quarters of it. Addie liked to act as if she was grown but there was an element of her that found joy and amusement in little things like bubbles, sugary cereals and Saturday morning cartoons. He shut off the tap when the bathtub was only half filled. Another one of Addie's little quirks would keep her from getting in right away and there was no point in wasting the water.

"I'll be back up in thirty minutes," he informed her, returning to the bedroom.

Addie tried to scowl at him but he could see how her lips quivered as she fought a smile. "I said 'no.'"

"Your lips said one thing but I know you," winked Damon. "Thirty minutes."

"Thank you!" Addie called after him, allowing the smile to cross her face as he left the room.

The room plunged into darkness as she turned off the only lit lamp. Addie stretched as she lazily made her way to the bathroom, the flickering candlelight guiding her way. Her nose tickled at the strong scent coming from the bath. She didn't like lavender. Addie turned on the shower, allowing the water to warm as she stripped. _How did she end up in Damon's clothes?_ Surely she must have been in a hospital gown….

Addie showered quickly before switching to the bathtub, the water still warm. She knew it was a bit neurotic but she couldn't convince herself that taking a bath was nothing more than stewing in her own filth if she didn't go into it clean. She winced as the faucet echoed loudly off the tiled walls as she filled the tub the rest of the way. When bubbles towered over the rim and water threatened to slosh out the sides, she turned it off. Sinking down into comforting heat she tried to turn her mind off.

 _*Flashback, One Year Ago*_

 _Addie sat in the booth next to Jeremy as he told Aunt Jenna and her about the extra credit assignment the new history teacher was letting him do to make up for his troubled phase. The conversation flew around her but processing never seemed to take place. Her mind was too busy with other matters. That afternoon Damon Salvatore had threatened Bonnie over that stupid necklace again. Addie's fear, triggered by the image of the boy he had killed a week ago and his lazy attitude about it and the sub-textual threat he made waged against her protectiveness of her friends, outrage that he could even make her feel such a way, and a nagging curiosity of why he was so damned obsessed about an ugly stone. Tonight was the first time that she had seen him since she watched him kill needlessly over a week ago and she was too distracted by his presence at the bar to do anything more than push around the garlic roasted potatoes and glare at the back of his raven hair._

 _After the better part of half an hour, her curiosity and anger outweighed her self-preservation and so she excused herself to go to the restroom but instead made her way to the bar. Addie knew Jeremy was watching her and would give her the tenth degree later but she could handle him; she was just grateful Aunt Jenna's back was to her._

 _"Damon," she said coolly, sitting in the barstool next to where he stood, leaning over the bar. At least now she would be at eye level with him instead of feeling inferior by having to look up to him._

 _"Addie," he replied just as coolly, taking another drink of the strong smelling alcohol._

 _It pissed Addie off even more that he hadn't at least acknowledge she was physically right next to him._

 _Addie gritted her teeth and tried to make her voice seem off-handed and friendly but she knew it was still only lukewarm and tearing at the seems with anger and frustration. "Bonnie told me you two had a little incident today in the parking lot at school."_

 _"Hardly," Damon scoffed, finally turning to look at her, "it was more of check-in to make sure my crystal was in good hands and a request to pass along a message."_

 _"I wouldn't bother lying, Damon. I heard the tale straight from Bonnie and given that she hates you just as much as I do," at that Damon smirked wickedly as he took a sip, which made Addie continue in a voice hard and tight with lividity, "I'm more inclined to believe her than you."_

 _"Are you accusing me of lying? Are you sure that's a wise move?" he prodded with a grin, teeth sparkling white in contrast to the bloodstained smiled he had last given her. This one was no less threatening._

 _Addie laid her hand flat on the slightly scummy bar top and sat up straighter, making her slightly higher than him and making her feel a little more powerful, "Remember the first night we met? You told me to take control of my life and that includes getting my head out of my ass and being concerned about my best friend. So, leave Bonnie alone."_

 _"Sure," Damon nodded, sounding as if this was completely reasonable, "just as soon as I get my crystal back."_

 _"You mean Katherine's necklace?" Addie mused, eyeing the bottles behind the counter as if this didn't interest her. She had just gotten the message from Elena right before heading over._

 _Damon squeezed into the small space between Addie and the bar and rested his weight on his elbows which land on the wood, one next to the hand Addie had dropped to gain confidence. "Who told you that?"_

 _"So, it's true?" Addie said, her eyes going wide._

 _"No," Damon responded too quickly, sounding a little unnerved for the first time._

 _"Um, you basically just confirmed it was by getting that murderous look in your eye when you asked who told me," pointed Addie, leaning back on the backless stool. Damon was just in a little too much of her personal space. "So, why are you so obsessed with it?"_

 _Damon scrutinized her for several long seconds. He had almost killed her; she knew he was a vampire; she had seen him kill; yet she was still right in front of him. He had been dying to tell someone of his master plan; he could at least tell her a snippet._

 _"Like you said, it's Katherine's. What connection does Bonnie have to Katherine? Why should she have it?" Damon shrugged. Even if he wanted to tell her the truth, he wasn't going to make getting it_ that _easy._

 _Addie looked at him skeptically, her eyebrows arched, "So, you are threatening my best friend and sending messages to an 150 year old witch who is haunting her because you want this stone back for sentimental reasons?"_

 _"Of course not. You're thinking of the brother with hero hair that walks on a moral plane that even God can't fathom. Do I look like Stefan to you?" Damon said, running a hand through his tousled hair and giving a wicked half smile._

 _Tapping her chin in thought she took appraisal of him and lied, "No, Stefan is much cuter."_

 _Damon shrugged and smirked, "I took all the sexy and left him the cute."_

 _"Are you really so arrogant?" she sighed with exasperation._

 _Smirking, Damon leaned with just his back against the bar and settled his hands over Addie's slight waist and gave her a smoldering look, "Is it really being arrogant if it's true?"_

 _Addie shook her beet red face and pushed Damon's hands off her, "You're dick. If you don't want it for sentimental reasons, why do you want the crystal?"_

 _"Aww, back to that?" Damon pouted. Not earning a reaction from Addie he leaned closer to her and whispered conspiratorially, "Can you keep a secret?"_

 _Feeling a sudden burst of boldness and perhaps stupidity she leaned in towards Damon's ear and said ever so softly, "Have I gone through the town screaming 'vampire' yet?"_

 _She pulled back and was satisfied to see the tiniest hint of color in Damon's cheeks, if she squinted her eyes. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one who could get their cage rattled._

 _"I suppose not," he smirked, radiating conceit as if it was under his command she hadn't said anything. "Well," he said quieter, "that ghost haunting your witchy friend, she made me a promise. Katherine is still alive but she's been trapped under the old church for 150 years. It's been so long because I needed the comet but I obviously didn't have the crystal. But I think I've found another way to free her. But I still need that precious amber stone to free her. Now you know my deep dark secret; you know why I'm in town and what my master plan is." Addie opened her mouth but Damon quickly put a finger to her lips to quiet her. "If you talk about it, I'll have to kill you."_

 _Addie searched his face for a tell that he was kidding but couldn't find one; either he was serious or he made one hell of a poker player. She'd try calling a tiny bluff. Addie yanked her head back and swatted Damon's finger out of her face._

 _"You have no idea how hard it is not to laugh in your face right now." That slapped Damon harder than her hand could have based on the way his jaw unhinged. The shock quickly turned dangerous but Addie pushed on. "You call Stefan the sentimental one yet you've been in love with the same girl for 150 years and are acting in-fucking-sane to get her back. Unless stabbing your brother's best friend in the chest is just for fun. Speaking of your brother, your jealous, possessive mind has let him believe that the girl he loved is dead. You're just a giant box of Fruit Loops, Damon!_

" _That stone shocks anyone who tries to take it for you because what you're doing is stupid. It's stupid! Reason one: move on. Reason two: Katherine toyed with you and your brother at the same time; how much more romantically evil can a person be? Reason three: if you loved her, she's probably as insanely dangerous as you and you've already done enough damage here. We don't need anymore of your kind. Reason four: I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm sort of handling the idea of your bunny eating brother in my sister's life and he makes her happy and I don't want his ex-love coming back and possibly screwing up with that happiness."_

 _Damon's leather clad arms were crossed in front of him, almost brushing against Addie. It had been years since he spoke with such maliciousness "You do realize I could kill you in less than a heartbeat."_

 _"I know" Addie sighed dramatically before perking up and brightly adding, "but then who would you tell your secrets to? Who would be there to tell you that you're being stupid?"_

 _*Later that night*_

" _I don't get it," Addie sighed as she leaned on the frame of the bathroom that joined her room with Elena's._

 _Elena dropped her pen in her diary and rubbed at her eyes tiredly. It had been a very long day. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with her smartass little sister. Groaning she grumbled, "What do you want, Addie?"_

 _Slowly Addie said, "Your boyfriend's brother would have killed your best friend if your boyfriend hadn't been there to magically heal her ripped out throat."_

 _Even the words sounded ridiculous. It was completely mental to be getting involved in such nonsense._

 _Possessed by Emily Bennett, Bonnie destroyed the crystal Damon had been so desperate for. In an outburst of rage he had tried to kill her but Stefan had managed to tear his brother away before he could succeed._

 _Elena wasn't going to waste time pointing out that Stefan wasn't actually her boyfriend since he had decided not to be with her. "I was there. I know what happened. Do you have a point?"_

 _Addie's eyebrows arched in surprise. That statement wasn't enough of a point?_

" _You had to explain to Bonnie that she was almost killed by a_ vampire. _And the part where you are dating the murderous vampire's brother, who is also a vampire? Elena, nothing but death has surrounded Mystic Falls since Stefan and Damon came to town!" she exclaimed._

" _Get to your point," Elena snapped._

 _Addie shook her head slowly. She could understand how Elena could be selfish; her selfishness was the reason their parents were dead. What Addie couldn't understand was how Elena could actually_ want _this._

" _How do you expect things with Stefan to end?"_

 _Elena blinked in surprise. That wasn't the reprimand or temper tantrum she had expected. "What do you mean?"_

" _Aside from the fact that all relationships are doom, your relationship with Stefan is fatal. It either ends when he kills someone you. Or Damon kill someone you love, which is probably going to happen any day. Or when you die since he's immortal. Your relationship is all blood, gloom and death," shrugged Addie, saying as if it were completely obvious. "The only way you don't end in death is if you become a vampire…. Although, you have to die for that so that's still technically death."_

 _Her depressed little sister was always a ray of sunshine. Elena rolled her eyes. "I would never turn into a vampire."_

" _Not even for twue luwve," Addie mocked, fluttering her eyelashes dreamily, "and all that other romantic bullshit you believe in."_

 _Elena shook her head. "I'm seventeen years old. How am I supposed to know if I even know what true love is? Besides, you know me, Addie. I've been mothering you your entire life, not just since Mom and Dad. I'm meant to be a mother. I'm meant to start a family. A vampire life is something I would never choose."_

" _Hmm," acknowledge Addie, impressed. "I think that might be one of the most enlightened, intelligent thing you've ever said."_

" _You must set the bar low."_

 _She snorted in response, "I really don't have high expectations of you."_

 _*Flashback, 30 hours*_

 _The tears flowed unnoticed as she called Damon over and over, immediately hitting redial the instant she got his voicemail. Addie didn't need to hear the conversation to know what Stefan was telling Elena; Damon had used the stake. And he was ignoring her calls because he knew livid, enraged, and furious were the first three emotions she identified. She doubted he even considered all the other things she felt, like fear, longing, guilt, passion, and, most of all, love._

 _"What are you doing?" Addie snapped in alarm as she noticed her sister slow the car down as they almost finished crossing the newly restored Wickery Bridge._

 _"We have to go back," Elena exhaled softly as she made a U-turn. "If Klaus is the one that turned their bloodline, then they're all gonna die. Tyler, Caroline, Stefan. We have to say goodbye."_

 _Addie shook her head insistently. "No, no. We're going to Damon."_

 _"No," her sister decided firmly as the car began to reach normal speed again. "You and Damon had your goodbye; that's what he told Stefan. That's why he's not answering his phone."_

 _Her fingers tangled in her hair as she tried to figure out what her sister was talking about. Damon had not told her goodbye and that he was off to go and commit suicide. Their last conversation hadn't even been close to a goodbye; it had bordered on a fight without the actual arguing. Addie had explicitly told him she was pissed off at him and he had… he'd let it go. He hadn't forced her to explain herself or pushed her to talk to him or decided that he was going to stick around until she wasn't mad. Damon had left her angry. It had been awhile since he had let them part on bad terms. He'd come to believing in working things out instead of letting them fester. Had he been trying to say goodbye and she had pushed him away?_

 _"Turn around," Addie said softly as a lead weight of guilt settled in the pit of her stomach._

 _Firmly her sister said, "No."_

 _"Elena, turn around."_

 _"No!"_

 _Damon was going to die thinking she didn't want him, that she was too angry at him. She couldn't let him believe that. It wasn't just that, though. Her parents, Uncle John, Aunt Jenna and even Alaric had all died before she had a chance to say goodbye. If she had that opportunity with Damon, she had to take it. Determined, Addie shoved at the wheel to try and make Elena turn around._

 _"Addie!" exclaimed Elena, jerking the wheel back in the correct direction._

 _There was a brief struggle and then…._

Addie's eyes flashed open and she gasped for air. Relieving terrifying plummet off the bridge, the submersion into the icy water and the pressure of not being able to breath had startled her out of a disjointed set of memories. She inhaled deeply, relishing in the ability to do so. Her memories had left her with a chill so deep in her bones that even the heated water couldn't cure. In fact, soaking in water reminder her a lot of the drowning.

Her anxiety spiking, Addie quickly pulled two towels off the rack as she got out of the tub. She wrapped one around herself and used the other for her hair. Before leaving the bathroom she drained the tub. The candles and familiarity were enough for her to navigate Damon's bedroom. The second drawer in his dresser was filled with her clothes and some of her favorite pieces of his that she borrowed more frequently. She selected a random pair of boyshorts and her favorite set of pajamas: one of Damon's over-price, high-end t-shirts that was far too big and his lucky black boxers patterned with yellow smiley faces.

After she changed, Addie quickly took a brush and a blowdryer to her hair. The loud whirring seemed louder than ever. It was so bad it made her jaw clench and eyes narrow in pain. Barely able to stand the noise, she stopped fussing with her hair as soon as it wasn't dripping wet.

"How was your bath?" asked Damon, grinning at Addie when she came back into the room.

"Not great," Addie admitted. She noticed he had turned the lamp back on; it bugged her. "My brain thinks too much."

He understood what Addie meant; she had a hard time tuning out her thoughts and simply meditating. Her mind was always dwelling on something.

"Sit down. We can talk about it while you eat," he offered.

She climbed into his massive bed and gave him a sheepish smile as she leaned back against his headboard. He gave her a confident smirk as he carried over a breakfast tray and sat next to her. Addie couldn't help but giggle as he settled the tray over her lap. A plate of pancakes decorated with a whipped cream smile and strawberry fangs grinned up at her. Damon made the most delicious pancakes but he knew she didn't like strawberries. Addie was fairly certain he contained to use them because Damon liked that she ended up feeding them to him.

"I had a feeling you would make pancakes."

Damon shrugged innocently, "I know you like them." And it brought him comfort to prepare the first thing his mother ever taught him to cook when he was stressed.

"I do," Addie said softly. Her fingers intertwined with the hand he rested on his lap. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "I also like you."

He gave Addie's hand a comforting squeeze. Typically she was guarded and did her best to hide her emotions. It had been a battle for both of them to learn how to open up to one another. Addie might not come right out and directly say it but it was clear through her actions and word choice that something was wrong and she was searching for reassurance.

Damon gave a kiss to the crown of her head before resting his cheek against it. Just as quietly he remarked, "I like you, too."

Timid and barely audible Addie asked, "Did anything… did anything weird happen when Stefan saved me?"

"What do you mean weird?" he replied stiffly.

"When we crashed I had vampire blood in my system, just like Elena."

"Eat your pancakes, love." There was no point in getting her stressed out about something that might not even be a concern.

Her hand instinctively gripped tighter at his as the sense of fear and foreboding she had been battling became more encompassing. There was a tremor in her weak voice. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you after you eat."

"No, you'll tell me now," Addie said, hoping her voice sounded more confident than she felt.

"Then you might get all worked up over nothing," Damon countered. "Besides, the food is going to get cold."

She sighed impatiently and removed her head from his shoulder. "I've let food get cold before because you wanted to be stubborn."

He cocked a challenging eyebrow at her. "I'm gonna let you think about that sentence and see who appears to be the stubborn one."

"I've never denied being stubborn and that's why you should know that you're going to tell me what happened. Otherwise my mind is just going to think all sorts of crazy things," Addie said, her words becoming more rushed and panicked. They both knew what she meant by _crazy things_.

"Elena couldn't be saved; she was medically dead," Damon prefaced, emphasizing the difference in the situations. "When Stefan pulled you out, your heart had already stopped. Paramedics were eventually able to jump start it again. Meredith Fell ran all the test and, medically, you're completely fine."

"So... I died?" she murmured in shock. She had known it had been a possibility but she hadn't been prepared to actually hear it.

This would be so much simpler if she would just take a bite of the food. Damon shifted uncomfortably. "Well, that's a relative term. I mean, your heart stopped but it started again."

"Ok, well, I mean relative to transitioning. Technically you're dead but you have a heartbeat! Which makes no fucking sense!" Addie exclaimed, the pitch of her voice higher than usual.

"Hey," Damon said, gentle but firm. He buried his fingers in her hair and tilted her face to look up into his. Her eyes were wide and misty and her lower lip quivered even though she bit at it anxiously. "It's ok."

She gaped at him incredulously and shrieked, "I'm trans-"

"Shh," interrupted Damon, pressing a finger to her lips. "I don't know if you are transitioning. You could be panicking for no reason."

Addie looked long into his eyes, trying to take comfort from his steady gaze. He was uncertain but he didn't look afraid. Her lips pursed into a thin line as she fought to gain control over her fear.

"How are we supposed to figure it out? Have me drink blood and hope I don't turn into a vampire?" she bit acidic.

The words stung but not because of her anger, which he new was directed at the situation and not him. He knew Addie didn't want to be a vampire and he had accepted that. At least he was trying to. Addie would not want to complete the transition process; she would rather die. It still hurt to hear her say so.

"Eat your pancakes," he repeated. "If you're transitioning, they'll taste awful."

Addie frowned skeptically. "That's it? It's that simple?"

Damon nodded. He didn't need to know that he had been trying to evaluate based on her temperament and other signs because then she would ask for his opinion. They didn't need to make it complicated.

Her hand shook as she picked up the fork and cut into the the top pancake. She didn't want to become a vampire. She didn't want to have to fight a bloodlust like Stefan. She didn't want to battle her emotions amplified ten times; she had witnessed Damon lose to his too many times. She didn't want to fight a predatory instinct to kill. She didn't want to live forever, always stuck at sixteen.

She didn't want to die.

 _She didn't want to die_.

"How long would I have to complete the transition?" she wondered as she stared down at the food.

"I don't know. Typically a person has 24 hours. Obviously you've gone longer than that. However, you also didn't follow the normal process of dying so I don't know how that would mess with the timing," Damon admitted.

"I could die at any second, then?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. You would start feeling weak and…. Choosing not to transition isn't a quick, painless death."

A single tear rolled down Addie's cheek as she set the fork back down. "But you could make it one?" He opened his mouth to respond but the words got caught in his throat. When he didn't answer she looked up at him hopefully and softly pleaded, "Damon, please."

Dragging his hands offer his face, Damon got up and walked away, keeping his back towards Addie so she wouldn't see the tears he wiped away. "Someone could make sure you didn't suffer."

"But not you," she understood solemnly.

"I can respect that you don't want to transition. And I am so goddamn helplessly in love with you that I'm not even going to ask you to go through with it to be with me because I know it's not a life you want. The only thing worse than losing you today would have you eventually hating and resenting me because I pushed you into being a vampire. Addie, I am willing to lose you without a fight but I am too selfish to be the one to kill you," Damon said firmly He refused to look at her, though; if he did, he would cave.

"You wouldn't be killing me. You'd be replacing suffering with peace," countered Addie.

He shook his head to himself; he knew she would argue that. "I'm not going to discuss this when we don't even know if you're transitioning."

Addie stared down at the food uncertainly and whispered, "I don't think I'm ready to know if I'm dying."

Damon's fingers ran through his hair anxiously; he wasn't ready to know either. They still had to know. "You can either find out now and if you are transition, you will know how to make the most of your time. Or we find out you're not and we don't have to worry about this. Or you can not find out for sure and we can keep waiting for you to start feeling like you're going to die and be in a perpetual state of anxiety and limbo until then. Of course, it's possible you're not transitioning and we'll be waiting for nothing for forever."

"I really don't like when you use logic," she grumbled, picking up the fork.

"You're the only one who ever gets to be rational?" he challenged with a teasing, crooked grin.

"I don't like when you use rationality against me," Addie rephrased before shoving a small bite into her mouth.

* * *

 **A/N: If you have made it to this point, yay! Thank you for reading! Resist Control is third in the Control Series, following Invisible Control (season 1 &2) and Hostage Control (season 3). Together the two previous works were published over two years and are almost 800k words. I do not expect my readers to remember everything as I don't remember everything. Resist Control is written in a manner that enough background information will be provided to answer any questions that any newcomer to the series may have and to remind veterans of anything important they might have forgotten. **

**Please comment, favorite, and follow if you are interested in hearing more of Addie and Damon's story! I would love to hear from everyone, particularly new readers.**


	2. Chapter 2

Damon balanced the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he took his time washing the single plate. He'd already cleaned the kitchen before taking the hastily prepared pancakes to Addie but she didn't know that. He could use a little extra time for an excuse.

"Damon?" Elena answered sharply before the first ring had even finished.

He rolled his eyes in mild irritation and mocked, "No, it's the ice cream man."

"God, you sound like my sister," she said in disgust. "You two spend too much time together."

In a much better mind since Addie had woken up, the corners of Damon's mouths twitched. It was true that their habits and mannerisms, both good and bad, had rubbed off on each other. Consciously channeling his inner-Addie, Damon mimicked, "'You two spend too much time together.'"

"Exactly my point!" Elena exhaled loudly in annoyance. Her sister could be a pain in the ass and so was Damon; together they were almost unbearable. And Elena couldn't imagine her life without either one of them. Soberly she asked, "How is she?"

"Well, she's still a smartass," Damon grumbled. Addie had scared the hell out of him when she made a horrified face and forced down the first bite of pancake. She had pushed the tray away and dramatically shaken her head.

* * *

 _*Flashback, one hour*_

" _No offense, Damon, but these are_ revolting _!" Addie declared with a shudder._ _There was a tense moment of silence as they exchanged hesitant glances. Damon's eyes went wide when Addie pulled the plate back towards herself. Starving, she shoved a large bite into her mouth. Her words were muffled as she spoke around the food, "Compared to your usual standard."_

 _Baffled, all he could come up with was, "Huh?"_

 _She shrugged innocently and swallowed. "Well, yeah. They're," she waved the fork in the air as she searched for the right word, giving up she shrugged again, "they're just missing something."_

" _I was out of nutmeg," Damon said through gritted teeth. He couldn't believe she had done that. He could believe that she had let him believe she was in transition, which she wouldn't complete, even if it was only for a fraction of a second. It had been the longest, most gut-wrenching moment; he had believed she was going to_ die _._

 _Reading his expression Addie smirked but there was no humor in her voice as she said, "Payback's a bitch."_

 _His lips pursed into a thin line. "That's not-"_

" _It's the same thing," she insisted before he could deny it. She focused intently on the pancakes and her voice cracked. "I thought you were going to die."_

 _There was an unfamiliar ache in Damon's chest and an uncomfortable nagging behind his navel. It was guilt because Addie had felt that same devastating, world-ending pain that he had._

" _I haven't apologized for what I did," realized Damon._

" _I don't want you to," mumbled Addie, only partially lying. "You wouldn't mean it."_

 _Damon watched as Addie carefully ate around the whipped cream smile face and strawberry fangs and the two pancakes below as he considered his response. "You're right," he admitted reluctantly. "I should be sorry that I caused you that kind of heartache and I feel awful that I did but I'm not. I'm not sorry because I don't value my life over yours. If Klaus killed you or tried to turn you - because, let's face it, his plan is probably going to end in one or the other - and I had the opportunity to stop him, I couldn't live with myself. I couldn't do it, Ads."_

" _So, I get to live with knowing you died for me? Damon, I already told you I couldn't live with that guilt. You were being selfish because you feared something that might never happen," she accused curtly._

 _After a moment he nodded in agreement and repeated, "You're right; I was being selfish. I'm a selfish guy. If I was a remotely decent guy I wouldn't be with you because this relationship is anything but healthy for you. Together, we know our future is doomed. Not to mention that I'm a serial killing, egotistical vampire of very few morals that is absorbed in a supernatural world that you despise and -"_

" _Damon, shut up," Addie interrupted bluntly. She didn't need a recap of all the reason they shouldn't be in a relationship and she shouldn't love him. Loving him something she didn't have a choice in, despite her senses of reasoning and logic telling her to stay far away from Damon Salvatore. A relationship with him wasn't something she was going to easily give up on, considering he made her happy 99% of the time. The relationship was only unhealthy because he was overprotective._

 _Twirling one of the strawberries in the whipped cream, Addie fought back a smile as she quipped, "Next time, just stop at 'you're right.'"_

 _Light blue met dark blue as their eyes connected. There was a twinkle of vivacity that reassured Damon she truly was ok and he was forgiven. Addie held the berry up to him. His lips grazed her fingers as his teeth bit into the top of the sweet fruit, taking it all in one bite. Her cheeks colored slightly as she broke away from his sultry gaze._

" _Why do you always put strawberries?" Addie wondered aloud as she covered the second one in cream. "You know I don't like them."_

" _Because I like them," he answered simply._

" _So why don't you just, you know, eat them?"_

 _Damon's brow furrowed in confusion. "Because then I would just be eating them. Why would I do that when I live off blood?"_

 _That wasn't making much sense. Addie looked at him doubtfully. "That goes back to my question of why you put them on?"_

" _Because I like them?" he repeated, cocking a quizzical eyebrow at her._

" _Ok," Addie shrugged, holding the fruit out to him._

 _Damon looked at the red strawberry covered in whipped cream then to Addie then to the strawberry, which she was offering at hand level, and back to Addie. He shook his head, scrunched up his face in distaste and said simply, "I don't like them like that."_

 _She gave him a superior, knowing look as she held the strawberry to his mouth, smearing the whipped cream across it. Smartly she confronted, "You just like me feeding your lazy butt."_

" _You're right," Damon winked, referencing her earlier instructions. He ate the second piece of fruit quickly. His tongue darted out to lick at the cream on his lips. "Except it has nothing to do with me being lazy; I just think it's hot."_

" _What did I tell you about stopping with 'you're right?'"_

* * *

"She's Addie, obviously she's a smartass!" Elena exclaimed from the other end of the phone. "Is that smartassness amplified ten times because she's transitioning?"

"Do you really think that's possible?" Damon questioned as he dried the plate. He knew he was aggravating Elena but it was a question he had seriously considered. _Could_ Addie be ten times more of a smartass? Two or three? Definitely. Ten?

"Oh, my god! Is my sister going to be a vampire or not?" she demanded.

He put the plate away. "Didn't we already discuss that she wouldn't go through with the transition?"

There was a long silence.

Taking pity on her Damon sighed, "You need to work on your wording. Your concern is if she's in transition, which she is not."

Elena let out a breath of relief she hadn't realized she had been holding. She wasn't even annoyed with Damon for being obnoxious about vocabulary like her sister. Seeking reassurance she asked, "Addie's fine? She's going to be ok?"

"Well," he hesitated.

"What is it?" Elena demanded, her voice soft with dread.

Damon stalled as he twisted at a dishtowel. "There might be this one little thing I'm concerned about."

"What?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he rested against the counter. "I might just be overthinking it."

"What is it?" snapped Elena as she grew frustrated.

"So, a big issue between you and Addie is that she blames you for your parents being dead because they were doing you a favor and picking you up from a party when they crashed, right?" reviewed Damon, prefacing his concern.

Elena rolled her eyes. It hadn't been her fault it was raining and the roads were slick. Addie could be overly rational but she could also be overly emotional. She hated Elena for what happened to their parents. Elena huffed in reluctant agreement, "In her twisted reality, yes, it's my fault they're dead."

"And this time you were doing _Addie_ a favor and driving her to me when you guys wrecked and you died, rather turned into a vampire," he explained slowly, hoping Elena followed. "Not to mentioned she grabbed the steering wheel. Don't you think in her mind it's going to be her fault you turned into a vampire?"

"No. Technically I was driving _myself_ to Stefan and everyone else to say goodbye. And she didn't grab the wheel hard enough to send us off the road. We wrecked because we were _both_ fighting over it. We wouldn't have wrecked if I had been doing the favor Addie wanted and driving her to see you," Elena argued back quickly.

Damon lips pressed into a thin line as he recalled the hysterics and near panic attack from earlier. "You might have to tell her that yourself because Addie doesn't seem to think that. You know how weird she is about dealing out guilt and blame."

"You agree that it wasn't Addie's fault, right?" she wondered. She had a sudden, desperate urge to know from _Damon_ that she was right not to blame her sister. The idea of blaming Addie had never crossed her mind, though.

"I thi-" Damon stopped abruptly. He might admit to Addie that he blamed himself but he wouldn't admit that to Elena. They never would have been in the car if Addie hadn't been chasing after him. "I think that it was an accident. You guys have your issues but neither of you would consciously do anything to risk the other's life."

"Did you tell her that? Did you tell her I don't blame her?" worried Elena.

He nodded even though she couldn't see him. "Of course. It calmed her for now but she had other things on her mind, you know, like wanting to start a fight with me and worrying if she was transitioning."

Addie and Damon had a relationship ruled by conflict. Elena said sympathetically, "I don't think Addie _wants_ to fight with you. She's just a naturally argumentative person and so are you. You guys can't help it."

"Or she was pissed at me for going on a suicide mission and wanted to fight about it," Damon sighed wearily.

"Give her some time, Damon. Can I see her?" she asked hopefully.

The clock on the stove said it was four in the morning. He frowned. "I know Addie wants to see you too but why don't we just hold off until a normal hour? You should try and get some sleep now that you know that Addie's going to be ok."

"Ok. Will you tell her I'm glad she's ok?"

"Yeah. Good night, Elena."

* * *

Addie had turned off the lamp by the time Damon returned to the room. His eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and he could see her curled up in the mass of blankets on her side of the bed.

"Ads?"

She didn't respond but her hand closed tighter around the heavy ring in her fist.

Assuming she was asleep a tension left Damon's shoulders for the first time since Stefan called him to say the paramedics were working on Addie. She wasn't going to turn into a vampire. She wasn't going to choose not to turn. She was going to stay very alive and very human. Finally relaxed, he went to shower.

Hearing the water start Addie rolled onto her back and sighed. Looking up at Damon's ceiling she couldn't help but think about how perfect glow-in-the-dark stars would fit. Her ceiling was popcorned and there has been a mess when she had to pop off pieces to stick plastic stars to it.

* * *

 _*Flashback, 8 months ago*_

 _Damon let out a breath when Addie rested her head on his chest. There was the cucumber melon again in her hair again. Feeling her hand slid up his stomach and come to rest on his chest caused a hitch in his breathing._ Screw it, _he thought as he allowed himself to let two fingers trace over the exposed skin at her waist; he was a dead man condemned to hell already._

 _"You're worrying me, Damon," Addie admitted softly after about ten minutes of just laying there. Damon had randomly shown up in her room while she was showering and now he was acting somber and stoic._

 _"I'm sorry,"he said automatically, his tone monotonous. "Don't. Don't worry, Ads," he said after a minute. "I'm doing enough of that for the both of us."_

 _"I know you like to play lone ranger but sometimes it helps to have someone worry with you," she suggested._

 _Alaric had revealed to them that day that his dead wife had also been researching werewolves. Not liking the idea of adding another creature to her list of_ Things That Shouldn't Exist, _which already included witches and vampires, Addie had stormed out of the boardinghouse, declaring she wanted the_ supernatural crap _out of her life. Addie had so desperately wanted to rid her life and her family of the supernatural that she agree to help Katherine with whatever she was planning as long as Katherine promised that Stefan, Damon, and herself were gone when she got what she wanted. For some damn reason he couldn't explain, Damon had agreed to help Addie avoid being used by Katherine. His instinct was to protect her even though she had made a deal with the devil to get rid of him._

 _Katherine wanted to keep everyone distracted from what she was up to by having everyone too focused on their emotions. According to Katherine's plan, Addie was supposed to get Damon's affection and attention. Damon would be too invested in Addie to care about what Katherine was up to. Elena would become jealous of no longer being the one Damon was interested in. Stefan would be bothered by this jealousy and it would cause a romantic strain between him and Elena that he would be too focused on fixing to care about Katherine. And Stefan would be mad at Damon for having any hold on Elena, screwing with their already messed up relationship further._

 _Addie had revealed Katherine's plan to Damon and he agreed to go along with it. Of course it had just made him more determined to figure out what Katherine was hiding. He would act interested in Addie and do whatever he needed to help her convince Katherine her plan was working._

 _Damon had never expected to develop actual feelings Addie. And while he didn't know Katherine's endgame, she had promised he and Stefan would be out of town. Plus, Addie had declared she didn't want the supernatural in her life._

 _But it wasn't fair to him for Addie to be with him while they worked on the plan and it was convenient for her only to have him gone the second she got what she wanted._

 _He squeezed her waist before he went back to tracing light patterns on the strip of skin. "I'm not worrying. It's more like I'm thinking too much and I feel like I'm just going to explode." He immediately regretted his words as he felt her stiffen._

 _"Should I be concerned?" she inquired trying to sound casual._

 _"No," Damon reassured her, shaking his head against the pillow. The sun had set and the room was dark now, letting him see the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling for the first time. "I always thought those were so cool. I like the ones that have the planets. I think it would be really fun for a kid's room, you know, to put the solar system on the ceiling."_

 _"I thought they would have been easier to hang on your type of ceiling when I was in your room." Addie's brows furrowed in confusion, "I thought you didn't like kids."_

 _"I don't but it's not exactly like I can do it on my ceiling. It's not the smoothest move when you bring a girl home. Somehow, I don't think that what they mean when they say 'doing it under the stars.' I think they mean real ones, not cheap, plastic versions."_

 _Addie laughed, "True but, I don't know, I think it could be fun to try."_

 _Damon snickered, only to receive a light slap to the chest._

 _Damon bit back a laugh and spoke, "I'm not laughing at you I promise. I'm laughing at the idea. Some poor sap would probably spend like a week putting up those stars and you would be too distracted by how he misplaced a star in a constellation to be into the sex."_

 _"First of all, I'm going to be questioning myself as to why I'm sleeping with someone too stupid to read a star chart; I mean it's freaking connect the dots. Secondly, shouldn't the sex be good enough that I'm not distracted by something like that?" Addie countered, joining in with Damon's laughter._

 _"Well, it should be. The vast majority of guys will leave you very unimpressed, though." His stomach tightened sickeningly at the idea of anyone else touching his Ads._

 _"Oh but I'm sure you wouldn't, right?" Addie giggled._

 _Damon smirked, "You'd be so impressed you'd think the stars on the ceiling were real."_

 _He grinned as he felt her bury her face into his chest, trying to suppress laughter._

 _"That was one of the worst lines I've ever heard," he could make out of her mumbling._

 _"You're right," he laughed, "it was pretty bad but, come on, you're leaving me with glow-in-the dark stars to work with."_

 _"That is not a defense," she decided, resting her chin on his chest and looking up at his face. "You actually had the whole solar system up there so that gives you a goldmine of lines. However, you do get credit for not using the whole 'forget your name' one."_

 _Damon shook his head in disgust, "Oh, no. I'd never use that." He grabbed her chin and brought her face to his. "You'd hear your name way too many times to forget," he murmured against her lips. "Ads," he sighed, pulling back from a kiss. "Addie," he groaned quietly, having momentarily forgotten what he was doing when she began to kiss back. "Addison."_

* * *

The bed dipped as Damon joined Addie. She scooted to the middle of the bed and turned onto her side again, facing away from him.

"I thought you were asleep," he said disapprovingly. His arm slipped around her waist and his chest pressed against her back as he held her close.

"I just slept for a day," Addie pointed out as she felt his chin settle on top of her head.

"It's still the middle of the night."

"Early morning," she countered.

He scoffed, "Whatever. It's a time you're supposed to be asleep at."

"I'm not tired."

"Liar," chuckled Damon. Her voice always grew soft and gentle as she pushed at the edges of sleep.

Addie sniffled as she held up a small object. Accusingly she stated, "You left this."

The moonlight bounced off the silver and polished gemstone; however, Damon didn't need to see his daylight ring to know what she was referencing. Her curt tone reminded him that she still wasn't pleased with his Kamikaze mission. When he got to the hospital he had been surprised to see the ring on her thumb.

"I know," he acknowledged wearily. He couldn't see where she was headed but he was not up for another fight.

That wasn't the response she expected. She shifted uncomfortably against him. Sensing he wasn't going to say anything else Addie muttered, "It's so big. It barely stays on my finger. It's a miracle it wasn't lost in the accident."

Damon hummed in agreement.

Addie forced herself to count to one hundred before impatiently pointing out, "You didn't take it while I was sleeping."

Again he hummed in confirmation.

She huffed in annoyance, "Aren't you going to ask for it back?"

"No," he said firmly. He knew this was what she had been wanting - expecting him to ask. Obviously he wanted the ring back but he had more pride than that. "I left my ring for you. I gave the ring over to _you_ , Addie. It's technically your ring."

"And what am I supposed to do with a daylight ring that only works on you?" she asked irritably. He wasn't responding the way she anticipated and that left her jolted. Damon acting in a predictable manner was one thing she counted on; it was a comfortably factor in their relationship.

"Whatever you want."

Not pleased with this answer, she scowled. "Don't you need it?"

"No. The majority of vampires don't have one. It's very rare to find a witch who knows the spell, is powerful enough to make one, and is actually willing to help a vampire out like that. As you might recall, our kinds don't really mix."

"I'm sure you've thought of Bonnie making you another one," Addie mumbled somewhat acidic.

Genuinely, Damon said, "No, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind."

"Oh…. don't you want your ring back?" she asked bluntly, getting tired of waiting for him to ask for it back.

"Addie," he said slowly, trying to get her to understand, "I gave the ring to you. It's _your_ ring. If it was still _my ring_ I would have already taken it. I left it for you as a token of my love and commitment to you."

"It was very unwise of you to give your daylight ring away, even if you thought you were going to die. Now you're going to have to move about in the shadows," she said pointedly.

Damon kissed the crown of her head and breathed in the scent of her shampoo. "I realize the implications and I'm ok with that."

"Because Bonnie could always make you another one?" mumbled Addie, unsure if she was annoyed or disappointed.

He snorted, "I wouldn't count on that. She made ones for Caroline and Elena because they are her friends but me? I don't think so."

"Elena has a daylight ring?"

He made a sound of confirmation and buried his face in her hair. The smell of cucumber melon had become so reassuring.

It was a comfort to know her sister could still walk about in the sun; perhaps her life didn't have to be completely ruined. Addie pulled Damon's arm from around her waist and compared the size of his hand to hers. His were, as she always believed, massive.

As she slipped the heavy, ornate ring onto his middle finger she quietly ordered, "Never do that again."

Damon stretched his other arm out so it rested under both their heads and flexed the fingers of the hand with his ring. An invisible weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "I did a lot of things you're not happy about and you know I can't promise not to protect you. So, what specifically are you talking about?"

"Basically, don't make me regret giving you your ring back," she sighed in resignation. She knew she could never get Damon to promise not to risk his life for her and it wouldn't be fair if she tried to; she would risk her life for him. However, she wouldn't be selfish enough to go on a suicide mission for him. She knew he would never approve and he would never want to live with the guilt of that. Hopefully he would understand why she hadn't approved of his actions.

"I'll do my best."

* * *

Addie sat at the breakfast counter, dumbstruck as Damon informed her of the events that had transpired while she had been unconscious. Esther had outed all the supernatural creatures to the Founders' Council while possessing Rebekah's body. That had actually happened while Addie had, as Damon liked to accuse, "run off" with Klaus. He wasn't buying her argument that she had just been trying to protect everyone. Stefan and Caroline had managed to expel Esther from Rebekah but Damon wasn't clear on the specifics because he had been teamed up with Elijah to save Addie from Klaus. He had shoved a massive piece of French toast in her mouth before she could go off on him about how she didn't approve of his methods since it involved allowing Bonnie to kill her brother, even if it was only temporary.

Then Damon had staked Klaus. Tyler was the only one who had "died." Though, he had sent Caroline away so she didn't have to actually witness it.

Elena had woken up after the crash in transition. The Council had broken into the home to capture Stefan. Assuming Elena was a vampire as well, they too her too. The Council also nabbed Caroline as she was leaving her home and Rebekah at the Mikaelson mansion. They had even gone to the mayor's house and arrested her for knowing about the supernatural creatures and covering up her son, Tyler Lockwood. However, Tyler wasn't there because he was "dead."

"So, they rounded up every supernatural creature in town except you and Bonnie?" Addie chewed through a mouthful of French toast thoughtfully. That seemed highly unlikely.

Damon frowned as he moved the last piece of bread from the frying pan to a plate towering with golden brown slices. "I don't think Esther outed Bonnie. All Bonnie ever did was help Esther. Witches tend to stick together like that. I mean, Bonnie didn't start helping the bad guys until _after_ Esther had already ratted everyone else out."

"Ok," Addie said slowly as she grabbed another piece of bread. Damon always acted as if he was cooking for an army when it was really just her, with him having the occasional bite or two. "That doesn't account for you. If they knew you were Stefan's brother, I mean, there's no logical way they didn't know what you are. So-"

"How come I wasn't captured like everyone else?" he finished, angry with himself. She nodded. Intentionally he made a loud clatter as he moved pots and dishes into the sink. Grudgingly he admitted, "Caroline and Rebekah were in a van together. _Tyler_ caused some major accident and broke Caroline out of the van and they got away. Caroline called to tell me that she had gotten away and that I was the only one to pick up my phone. She told me the Council had turned on Liz and Carol. It didn't require a brain surgeon to figure out everyone else had been rounded up."

Addie hated to interrupted Damon when he was apparently pissed off but she was confused. "How did _Tyler_ cause an accident? Isn't he dead? Or Klaus is borrowing his body? Or some freaky _Invasion of the Bodysnatchers_ thing?"

"We didn't know that at the time," Damon grumbled loud enough to be heard over the running water as he washed dishes. "The Council came here. I wasn't going to risk fighting them off if they had managed to get a jump on everyone else. You were still unconscious and I had your safety to consider. So… well…"

'What did you do?" she encouraged gently, sensing his reluctance.

"I hid both of us behind the clothes in my closet."

Initially Addie buried her face in her hands to hide the laughter. Arctic blue eyes bore into her furiously. She tried to stop but it kept coming.

"Addison," Damon admonished tersely.

"I'm not laughing at you," Addie giggled, sliding off her stool. "I promise. Well, I kind of am." Despite his arms crossing his chest, she wrapped hers around his waist and leaned into him. Feeling his glare, she sobered up enough to explain, "I feel extremely protected that you put your ginormous ego aside long enough to protect _both of us_ from the actual threat."

Damon returned the hug as he moodily mumbled, "It wasn't exactly like I had a choice. Your weren't in a condition where I could trust that you would be ok if I fought them and got captured."

Addie took a deep breath and opened her mouth but at the last minute she decided not to say anything. If she had heard him correctly, if she had been fine, he would have told her to hid and then would have gone and stupidly fought a fight he knew he couldn't win. He would have been captured by the Council, a group of people eager to kill vampires. She would have been left alone again. She was going to give Damon the benefit of the doubt and assume that he hadn't thought the implications of his words all the way through. He simply didn't go because he was concerned about her and she would be happy with that.

It was tiring always fighting with Damon.

"Oh, my god! Addie!" she heard a relieved voice exclaim over her shoulder.

Breaking away from Damon, her deep blue eyes watered as they met her sister's bright brown ones as Elena stood with Stefan in the entrance to the kitchen. In several quick strides, Addie closed the distance. Her arms wrapped around Elena's neck and, several inches shorter than her sister, Addie easily rested her head on Elena's shoulder. Addie had to remind herself not to recoil at the icy feeling of her sister's skin. Otherwise, she seemed to be the same as before.

"I'm so glad you're ok," Elena told her sister, returning her the hug so tightly that she felt Addie's ribcage expand and collapse as she breathed.

Trying to sound positive, Addie sarcastically remarked, "Wish I could say the same for you."

It was insane to be able to hear Addie's heart beat as if she had just sprinted and to hear the shakiness in her breathing; Elena could even detect a slight shiver as she held her. Damon was right; Addie was _traumatized_. Elena stroked the back of her sister's hair and made soothing shushing sounds.

"I'm fine," Elena reassured her.

Addie's voice went up an octave and cracked as she squealed, "You're a vampire! That's not _fine!_ "

Holding the younger girl at arm's length, Elena said clearly, "I get to live to make sure that you and Jeremy are safe and get to grow up and be happy. Is the world perfect? Is the world fair? No but you already know that better than anyone else. And you know that the best way to get through the tough times is to find the silver linings. When we were sitting at the bottom of that lake and I saw you go still, I - " her voice broke off as she blinked away tears; her emotions were all over the place but Addie needed her to keep it in check. "I thought that was the end for you. For both of us, really. And then Stefan showed up and he was my hope at a second chance for _you_ and, Addie, I couldn't be more grateful that you safe and alive and _human_. I didn't think I would be around to see that."

"Have you guys had coffee?" Damon asked Stefan loudly as he stood on the opposite side of the kitchen island. Without an answer, Damon began to pour the caffeinated beverage into four mugs. "We haven't had coffee yet. Addie was too excited for breakfast and couldn't wait."

A black mug slid across the counter to Stefan. Damon using his _vampire advantages_ , as Addie called his enhanced abilities, to quickly fix Elena's coffee, a splash of cream and one teaspoon of sugar, and Addie's, which was almost a third creamer and a teeth rotting amount of sugar. Elena surely thought she was helping but Addie didn't know the whole truth and sometimes she was better left in the dark.

Damon pried one hand off Addie's shoulder and shoved the drink into. "Stefan's told you how important caffeine is to keeping a vampire warm, right? Gotta keep up those appearances!"

Addie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she tried to make sense of what her sister had revealed. "Stefan, did - did Stefan save me before he saved you? Because you asked him to?"

"No time for idle chit-chat and girl gossip," insisted Damon as he pushed a mug into Addie's hands. "Stefan and Elena have a big day ahead of them."

Elena's eyes flickered between Damon's desperate, furious scowl and Addie's pale, guilty, grief-stricken gape. She'd obviously said something she wasn't supposed to. Deciding it was best not to confirm or deny any of her sister's thought, Elena's attentions turned towards Stefan. "Damon's right. We should go pack your stuff."

They left, leaving Addie to stare at Damon for answers. Her fingers tangled in her hair as she softly demanded, "Is that true? Is Elena a vampire because Stefan saved me first?"

Damon sighed heavily, "There's no proof to that."

"But… Elena told Stefan to save me first?" Addie said slowly. She took a small sip of coffee, hoping the hot beverage would warm the chill that had seeped into her bones.

Damon drained his own mug instead of answering. He wasn't going to lie to Addie. However, acknowledging the truth would just give her more reason to feel guilty. There was no winning.

His sensitive ears picked up the words coming from his brother's room. He didn't know how to help Addie but he definitely knew how to help her sister. He discarded his cup in the sink and headed upstairs. Over his shoulder he called, "Don't over think it. You would have done the same."

The only part of Addie that felt warmth were her fingers, wrapped around the ceramic glass, heated by the coffee. Her grip tightened and her jaw clenched at Damon's words. It didn't matter that she would have insisted Elena be saved first if she could have because that wasn't what had happened. Realizing she was the last person in the kitchen, Addie set off in search of…. Damon? Elena? She wasn't sure who; she just knew she didn't want to be alone with her own thoughts.

* * *

"Let me get this straight. You're going to be _ravenous_ the next few days," Damon drawled, pointing to Elena as she sat on the edge of the bed before pointing to his brother as he seemed to be packing, "and your solution is to take her out into the woods."

"It's not nice to eavesdrop," Elena said sharply.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Eavesdropping would imply that I'm actually interested in this little mess. You'll learn that you can't always help what you hear," he replied smartly as he tugged at his ear. Leaning against the doorframe he focused on Stefan. "You know you're making a big mistake."

"No, I'm not," Stefan snapped decisively. "If she can get used to animal blood right out the gate -"

"You're reaching," taunted Damon.

Ignoring his brother, Stefan continued, "She'll be able to bypass all the things that we went through."

"Delusional!" sang Damon.

Annoyed, Elena shoved her way out of the room and past Damon. Nobody had even _asked_ what she wanted to do. Of course she could handle human blood without turning into a ripper like Stefan but she didn't want to hurt anyone. Blood bags were a perfectly acceptable option. But Stefan wanted her to do the animal diet. The idea of the actual act repulsed her but she loved Stefan and this was something extremely important to him. Besides, if they were going to spend forever together, she didn't want to constantly be tempting him by having blood bags around.

Elena was heading towards the stairs when her sister caught her in another crushing hug. Addie trembled so badly Elena was convinced that she was only still standing due to her support.

"Hey, hey. It's alright," she said soothingly. Addie shook her head and made a hiccuping sound as she tried to keep from sobbing. "Yes, it is. We both made it out alive."

"Y-y-y-y-y-you're," stammered Addie as she gasped from air, tears streaming down her face.

Elena couldn't help but chuckle softly as she wiped her sister's face clean with the cuff of her shirt. "Dead," Elena finished, knowing what her painfully literal sister was going to say. "I know. But I'm still here. You haven't lost me, kiddo."

She focused on the small circles at her back as she fought to get control over her breathing. If Elena wasn't crying, then she had no right to. In a shaky voice she emphasized, "It's about what _you've_ lost."

Grasping Addie by the shoulders Elena enunciated, "I'm not focusing on that and neither should you. I'm grateful that I haven't lost my baby sister. I'm grateful that I get a second chance to try and be a better sister to you. I'm _lucky_ to still be here. Addie, I didn't _have_ to choose to be a vampire. I got to choose. Understand?"

Sniffling, Addie head bobbed up and down twice. It would be a lot easier to believe Elena if she sounded like she meant it.

"Come on," Elena said with a small smile as she grabbed Addie by the wrist and began pulling her along. "I think our boyfriends might try killing each other."

Addie pushed her feelings aside and followed Elena. There was something comforting in knowing that Stefan and Damon were still bickering as if nothing was wrong. In mock exasperation she sighed, "What now?"

"Stefan thinks I should do the animal diet," explained Elena as they started up the stairs.

Addie's lips puckered disapprovingly. That was an Elena and Stefan issue. That was none of Damon's damn business. However, he seemed pretty invested and oblivious to her arrival when she and Elena entered Stefan's room.

"She can't learn to control the bloodlust if she's never actually experienced the bloodlust," ranted Damon, pulling objects out of a dufflebag.

"What are you doing? Knock it off," complained Stefan.

Damon continued to unpack the bag as he argued, "It's a cheat. It's like giving a kid a calculator before they know math."

"And a calculator is exactly why a kid doesn't need to know math," Addie interjected smartly, her sniveling gone and her attitude found. "Calculators are so commonplace that they are allow on the SAT and ACT. Really, a calculator isn't cheating."

Damon sighed impatiently as he spotted Addie. This had nothing to do with her. "It's a metaphor."

"Actually, you structured it as a simile," she corrected.

"This is - this is vampire stuff," he retorted. Victoriously he pointed out, "It's impossible for you to understand this."

Addie crossed her arms and snorted derisively, "The bloodlust? That's when your eyes get all red and you get the veins under them and the fangs pop out, right? And you get that really intense desire to rip someone's throat out? I'm going to take your silence as a yes. So, by your logic, Elena can't control that if she's never experienced that. Maybe I'm missing some vital lesson in Vampire 101 but wouldn't it be a good thing if Elena never experience the urge to, you know, murder someone?"

Damon opened his mouth for a comeback but Addie quickly held up a hand to silence him, predicting his words. "I know that's not what you meant. _Eventually_ Elena is going to experience the bloodlust because _everyone_ does and if she doesn't learn how to control it now she's going to snap and kill someone, right?"

"See?!" Damon exclaimed to Stefan pointedly. "Perfectly rational person who completely agrees with me."

"Uh, no." Addie said simply. "I never said I agree with you. And 'rational' isn't a word I would use to describe me even on my best days. And today is one of my bad days. So, I'm just a perfectly irrational person who completely thinks this is none of your damn business."

His hands thrust into his pockets and brows furrowed grumpily. He knew Addie wouldn't understand. Stefan zipped the bag he had repacked and walked over to Elena. As they started to leave Damon called after them, "I still say rip off the proverbial band-aid and let it bleed. You're a vampire Elena. Be a vampire." He felt a glimmer of hope when Elena stopped in the doorway and gave him a soft, emotional look. "Vampires eat people. It's part of the natural food pyramid. You do that animal diet and, trust me, you're going to be miserable."

"Just ignore him," Addie advised, physically encouraging her sister to continue after Stefan. "That's what I do 90% of the time."

"They're only fooling themselves," Damon grumbled after he heard the front door click behind Stefan and Elena. He rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck; he usually understood why Addie glared at him as if she was trying to burn him with her eyes.

"Or Elena could do fine on animal blood! It might not be what vampires are built for but Stefan does it."

"And he falls off the wagon and goes on a murderous rampage. Animal blood doesn't _work_ for Stefan. It just suppresses his instincts. When those instincts come flooding back, he's all the worst parts of a vampire. He's brutal, ru-"

Again, Addie held up her hand to stop him. She had spent a part of her summer with Ripper Stefan and Klaus. "I don't need a reminder of what your brother is like; I still have the nightmares as a reminder. But, your brother is not my sister."

"No but she is a vampire. She needs human blood. She needs to learn how to feed like a vampire is supposed to," insisted Damon.

"Why?" Addie demanded. "Why is it so important that Elena learn to be like you? What's wrong with her being like Stefan? Yes, she might eventually have to face the bloodlust and she might not be able to fight it. There's no guarantee she won't kill someone but there will never be that guarantee."

"Because I can help her! With the right help and guidance Elena can control the bloodlust!"

"But why does that matter so much to _you_? It's none of your business how she chooses to live her life, If she wants to be on the animal diet, that's her business and Stefan is the one to help her with that," Addie pointed out.

It was Elena's business and, yet, he just wanted the best for her. He knew what that was. He didn't know why it was important to him; it just was. He shrugged his shoulders and guessed, "She's your sister. I'm looking out for her because she's your sister. I would do the same for you."

"You would push me into feeding on humans even if that was something I didn't want to do?" challenged Addie, already knowing the answer.

"I would strongly encourage you to. It's how vampires are meant to exist. But…"

"But?"

"Yeah," he sighed in defeat, knowing what she was getting at, "I'd ultimately respect whatever decision you made."

"So you have to do the same thing for Elena," Addie declared firmly.

Damon nodded just to please her as he definitely didn't agree.

* * *

It had been late Sunday night or the early hours of Monday morning when Addie had woken up from the accident. Neither Damon nor Elena had said anything when she insisted that she needed to miss school that day to recuperate. Elena was on her camping trip with Stefan when Addie decided to skip school on Tuesday to stay curled up in her blanket and pillows. Jeremy had asked if she was feeling ok and she had lied and said she was still feeling a little tender and sore. It was Thursday night when Damon finally confronted her about missing nearly an entire week.

"Why haven't you gone back to school?" he inquired, his tone sharper and more authoritative than he meant.

"Why do you spend every day down at the Grill drinking alone not allowing anyone to sit next to you?" Addie retorted in the same tone. Just because she had been locked up in her room didn't mean she hadn't been getting status updates about the outside world from her gossipy friends and brother.

Damon's fingers drummed on the blank space on Addie's desk, where her laptop usually sat. He wasn't going to admit that the sit was already occupied in his mind. He knew Alaric was dead and he knew he had to kill Alaric to protect Addie but that didn't mean he didn't miss his best guy friend. He continued to swivel in her desk chair as he tried to distract her, asking, "Where's your laptop?"

Addie sighed dramatically as she curled up into a tighter ball, wrapping her green and blue plaid comforter around her head. "Klaus gave me enough time to grab my laptop and my mixing headphones so I could kind of work on my music while I was with him. I never brought them inside when I came home, They were still in my car when we wrecked. I lost nearly all the music I've ever created."

"Wow, Ads. I'm so sorry. I know how much your music means to you. Why didn't you tell me about your laptop?"

"What was the point?" she mumbled miserably. "It's lost and can't be replaced."

Countless of hours she had spent mixing and creating music might have been destroyed by water and he knew she was right; there was no way to replace that. He could still replace the laptop, just like he was replacing her car. When she had insisted she was fine and just needed some space on Tuesday, he'd spent the day travelling to the Jeep dealership in Lynchburg to order her a replacement Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. It was an exact replica of the dream car she had wrecked with a few enhanced safety features and it was a year newer. Since it was a custom order he was waiting for them to get it in stock. He hadn't told Addie because she would probably throw a fit, like she had when he had gift her the first one. He hadn't known he needed to order a laptop and mixing headphones. Unfortunately, he had no clue on how to pick those out.

"You're right it can't," agreed Damon, despite wanting to make a comment about her possibly being melodramatic. "Have you ordered a new stuff yet?"

"No," she grumbled. Doing so would have required asking Jeremy to borrow his computer. She couldn't talk to Jeremy without feeling a crushing weight of guilt. It was her fault that they had lost another family member. Or, at least, had a vampire for a sister. Pushing aside her pity party, Addie uncovered the blankets from around her eyes and focused on Damon. Seriously she said, "I heard that everyone on the Founder's Council, everyone who knew the truth about what you are except Sheriff Forbes and Mayor Lockwood, got blown up in a fire at Pastor Young's farm. Story is that it was a leaky gas line."

Stretching, Damon tucked his hands behind his head, "Are you accusing me of having something to do with that?"

Damon had been doing his best to keep his secret safe since he came to town. If his secret put her in danger, he would do anything to protect her, even slaughter the entire council.

"Am I wearing my "I Blew Up the Council" t-shirt?" he scoffed in mild annoyance. "Liz and Elena have already asked me if I did it."

"I know you didn't do it," Addie said seriously, as she sat up and the blanket fell around her waist. "The news is that it happened Sunday around dusk. You would have needed your daylight ring. I was still unconscious and had your ring. Technically, it's possible that you took the ring, left me alone, blew up the council, came back, put the ring back on my hand, and then made a big deal about how the ring was mine and it was up to me if I wanted to give it back to you but I would have to be really stupid to believe that. First, I know you never would have left me. Second, I know you were completely serious and sincere when it came to the ring."

A tension left Damon's jaw. He didn't realize how much Addie's support had meant to him. She didn't need to question him like Elena did; she trusted him. Mentally he shook his head to clear his mind. Far more frequently than he cared to admit he had been comparing Addie and Elena since the accident.

"So why do you bring it up?"

"Well, _someone_ had to do it. I mean, faulty gas line? Do you really think we get lucky like that? It's too coincidental. But why hasn't anyone comfort and said they did it?"

Damon moved over to her grinning. A finger hooked under her chin as he peppered gentle kisses across her face as he muttered, "You are so amazingly brilliant."

"Which basically translate to mean that you were thinking the same thing?" smirked Addie. Her arms wrapped around him and tugged sharply.

He chuckled, catching his weight on his arms to avoid crushing her as they fell back onto the bed. "Great minds think alike."

"I think we should both be terrified if I start to think like you. One of us need to be sane in this relationship," she taunted cheekily.

"Hold up," Damon protested in mock offense. "We both have very questionable perceptions of sane. But in this, we're both right." He rolled onto his side and propped his head in his hand. "Liz confirmed it _was_ a gas fire; but it was sparked from the inside. It was done on purpose. Whoever did it, died in the fire."

"So, somebody compelled someone?"

He shook his head. "I thought about that but everyone on the Council would have been on vervain."

"A non-Council member, then."

"No. The Council is too tight-knit. It took me forever to get them to trust me. If it was suddenly dropped on them that vampires and hybrids were running around town _and_ their group had been infiltrated by one, they wouldn't risk letting anyone in," reasoned Damon.

Addie's eyebrows arched as she asked skeptically, "You really believe someone on the Council killed the Council and themselves? I think we might have a better chance with the faulty gas line theory."

He shrugged the shoulder he wasn't resting on. "I don't really know, Ads. I don't know what else makes sense. There _was_ this suspicious guy who came to talk to Liz about the explosion."

"What did he want?"

"No idea. He insisted on talking to her in private. Said he was an independent contractor."

"Contractor of what?"

Damon sighed and flopped onto his back, bored of the topic. "Don't know."

"He could be dangerous," Addie said sternly, knowing he was rolling his eyes.

"Or he's a nobody," he replied curtly.

Addie sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. It was clear that he was done discussing the issue.

"There's a memorial for everyone on Saturday," Damon said eventually.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She hadn't gone to the memorials or funerals for her parents, Aunt Jenna, Uncle John, or Alaric. Tensely she wondered, "How is that relevant to me?"

"I'm assuming you don't want to go _but_ I figured you should be aware just in case you wanted to go," he said gently. "I know everyone else is going."

"Yeah, well, the whole town went to my parents' memorial and I didn't. If I didn't go to theirs, I don't see why I would go to this one," she snipped bitterly.

"That's what I said but Elena said she would tell you about it if I didn't," he replied defensively. "I'm a lot less pushy about this shit and I know you're feeling…. Well, I just didn't want her to manipulate you into going. I know how uncomfortable you are with death and things surrounding it."

* * *

 _*Flashback, One week, the day of the accident*_

 _"This isn't exactly what I pictured when you said we were going far from Mystic Falls," Addie muttered as she watched Klaus pace back and forth across the sparse living room. Klaus had taken them to a lavish, foreclosed house in a town only two hours away. At least he had allowed her to follow him in her own car._

 _"We need to have a little heart to heart," he said sternly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he stood in front of her._

 _Sarcastically she bit back, "We didn't have enough of a heart to heart when your hand was wrapped around my heart last night?"_

 _"No. I'm going to be honest with you, so I expect you to be honest with me," he remarked patronizingly._

 _Addie inhaled through her teeth sharply as if in pain. "Yeah, I'm not sure if I can believe in the whole honesty spiel coming from you."_

 _He shrugged and gave her an icy, uncompromising look. "If you want answers, you're going to have to give some. Can you be compelled?"_

 _"I believe you already know the answer to that," she sighed running her fingers through her hair. It was useless to keep up the pretense._

 _"I want to hear it from you."_

 _"No."_

 _"Good," Klaus nodded. "It means a locator spell won't work on you and we're safe to talk her for a bit."_

 _That wasn't entirely true. Elena and Jeremy's blood couldn't be used to track her but Damon's could. She wasn't going to correct him, though. And she doubted anyone would be trying locator spells if they didn't hear from her for a few hours. They were all occupied at Alaric's funeral._

 _"How do you know that?"_

 _"I've told you; I've studied people like you," he answered cryptically._

 _"What do you mean like me?" she demanded sharply._

 _"Special people. Siblings, particularly female siblings to potential hunters, like Jeremy."_

 _Addie could feel a dull ache beginning in the back of her head. He mentioned before for how she was different because of Jeremy possibly turning into something in the future. She remembered exactly what Klaus had told her over the summer._

"There are six billion people in the world. Of those six billion people only five should concern you if you're so worried about your brother. One of them dies and your brother kills a vampire it is possible that he turns into the Hulk. He'll be stronger, faster, and have a thirst to kill vampires. Think of it as an upgrade. On the whole, Jeremy has a 99% chance of remaining as an unremarkable, average human."

 _"This summer you said there didn't seem to be anything special about me except the fact that my blood was poisonous as a defensive mechanism against the vampires Jeremy could bring into my life," she recalled, slightly accusatory._

 _"Then I noticed you couldn't be compelled."_

 _"How did you figure that out?"_

 _"Damon's feeling for you are unquestionable. However, his decisions regarding your safety and his respect of your independence is extremely questionable. He took drastic actions when Alaric attacked you -"_

 _"Because you baited him," Addie interrupted indignantly._

 _Klaus continued on as if he hadn't heard her, "He loathes me and yet he hasn't taken any action to keep you away from me."_

 _"Except try to kill you," she interjected again._

 _He continued to ignore her. "I wasn't 100% convinced that you couldn't be compelled until I saw you today. I knew you would tell Damon of our little encounter last night. You have no vervain in your system. If he could compel you, he would have told you to stay away from me. He respects you but he values your life more. Obviously you're here with me, meaning he can't compel you."_

 _"That's despicable. Even if he could, Damon would not compel me," she spat, doubting her own words even as she said them. He could be irrationally protective. She shook her head in disgust. "Is that why you did that? Is that why you nearly killed me? To see if I could be compelled?"_

 _"Yes and no. Damon may have made you resistant to compulsion but-" He paused and reconsidered, "Actually, did he? I know Katherine is the one who told you about the whole thing. I suppose it's possible she did it."_

 _She scoffed in disbelief, "You obviously know the process. Do you believe Damon would actually do that even if I begged him to?" Of course he had but she wasn't going to explicitly tell Klaus if he could conclude otherwise. Damon had been doing it for her benefit and it hadn't been as if he enjoyed it. Plus his feelings hadn't been the same way back then._

 _"Katherine makes more logical sense. I'm not sure if I need to repeat the same process with you to use you for my purposes," he explained._

 _Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And what is your purpose with me? What's so special about me? Why do you want me?"_

 _"I'll reveal that in time. As for a hint, how familiar are you with Greek and Roman mythology?" Klaus taunted with a knowing smirk._

 _Addie felt a sense of dread quickly followed by a pang of excitement. She loved Greek and Roman mythology. She was taking Latin because she wanted to read ancient Roman works, including ones about mythology, in the original language! It was a vast culture but it was a starting point._

 _"A bit. I'll be sure to do some research. Does this conclude our little heart to heart?" Addie replied snidely. "Can we go?"_

 _"We're waiting for Tyler to bring some essential items. When my mother made her presence known this morning I didn't exactly have time to pack."_

 _Addie giggle. She found it amusing that the terrifying Klaus was so afraid of his mother. "Did she threaten you with the boogey man?"_

 _"The what?"_

 _"Nevermind."_

* * *

Klaus had given Addie a clue as to what made her so valuable to him but Greek and Roman mythology was a vast topic that she could spend her entire life exploring in an attempt to find an answer. She had to start somewhere, though. To the best of her knowledge, the legend of the vampire had only existed since 1897, when Bram Stoker published _Dracula_. However, vampires had existed long before that. There was no way the Originals had run around creating new vampires for 900 years without starting new legends. But what is the _legends_ went back further than the creatures? What if Esther had learned from mythology how to create a creature that could withstand the werewolves?

She knew it was a long shot but she had searched "Greek mythology vampire" on her phone. The results weren't obvious but after some sleuthing, she found on some random message board a suggestion to read _Life of Apollonius of Tyana_. It wasn't clear what she would find but Addie eagerly found a version translated from the original Ancient Greek on her phone. She had been intently reading the book since Damon had left Thursday night after Tyler Lockwood had been shot by the independent contractor. It provided her with a convenient distraction from her real problems and was a perfectly legitimate excuse for her to skip school on Friday.

The Grill had initially been wonderfully silent as nearly everyone in town was at the memorial service but it had slowly become quite boisterous. Matt and Jeremy had joined Addie but she had done her best to ignore their conversation. Addie thoughtfully chewed at a fry as she reread the quote.

"You must regard this world of ours, for it is not reality but the semblance of reality. That you may realise the truth of what I say, this fine bride is one of the vampires, that is to say of those being whom the many regard as lamiad and hobgoblins. These being fall in love, and they are devoted to the delights of Aphrodite, but especially to the flesh of human beings, and they decoy with such delights those whom they mean to devour in their feast." _(_ Philostratus, _Life of Apollonius of Tyana, 4.2)_

Addie let out a long, low groan of frustration.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked from behind the bar.

She huffed in frustration and jammed another fry into her mouth. Around the food she complained, "Don't you ever wish you could read Ancient Greek?"

"No, no, we don't," Jeremy answered for both of them. "That's just you."

Ignoring the helpless duo, she read the passage again. She wanted to know if 'vampire' was a term that was actually from Ancient Greece or if it was a word that the translator used to better convey the original thought. It was clear that the referenced vampires ate human flesh. She didn't know how popular the idea of love was with vampires but "devoted to the delights of Aphrodite?" Aphrodite was an extremely sexual goddess of beauty and pleasure and had many lovers. That made sense, even if it was a bit of a reach.

"That was insane, though. How do you think they'll cover this one up?" Matt said to Jeremy, half in a amazement, half in disbelief.

"Cover what up?" Addie asked suspiciously. They already had a blown up Founder's Council to worry about.

"An assassination attempt on the Mayor's son," Jeremy whispered to her conspiratorial. "Tyler was up at the podium and _someone_ just took a shot at him."

" _Altar Boy Goes Postal_ ," Mat suggested, framing the words in the air as he said the fake news headline.

A tough look man sat down next to Jeremy. "Hey," he said curiously to Matt as he pointed to the side of his own neck, "what happened there?"

"Uh," stalled Matt, his fingers brushing at the bandage over his neck. Addie had even noticed that. "Girlfriend went a little overboard," he said sheepishly before walking away to bus a table.

"Nice ink," noted Jeremy, nodding towards the man's arm.

Curious, Addie looked. There was a circular symbol on his hand with six branches, each ending in an E-like shape and what looked like roots wrapped around it and traveling up his arm, stopping at the lower half of his bicep. It was definitely cool.

Addie sent a quick text before sticking her phone in her pocket and excusing herself.

* * *

There was nothing quite like the sensation of running. The shock of landing on the balls of your feet vibrating through your entire body. The wind whipping past your face. Addie loved running; she had been running as long as she could remember. Several medals from track meets hung in her room and she even had set the school record for the girl's quickest 100m dash the previous season.

She had track practice everyday after school, whether it was for the usual season or for cross country. Prior to driving, her preferred method of getting anywhere was to run there. Running to the boarding house from the Mystic Grill hadn't even caused her to break a sweat.

Hearing a sound come from the front porch, Damon went downstairs and opened the door. He cocked his head in confusion as Addie stood there, her arms stretched over her head. "Did you actually _run_ here?"

Her breathing stabilized, Addie dropped her arms and nodded. "What's wrong with that?"

He knew from the icy edge in her tone better than to challenge her.

"You think I'm happy?" Stefan exclaimed from inside.

Damon stepped aside, allowing Addie in as he warned, "Elena and Stefan are here."

"I just didn't want to ruin it for you," Elena explained.

Addie's eyes flashed to her sister in the living room and a familiar wave of guilt washed over her.

In a voice louder than usual but not quite yelling Stefan rebuked, "You're in hell which means that I'm in hell. Then you go to _Damon_ for help."

Addie's hand shot out and grabbed Damon's wrist as she followed him up the stairs. The weary expression he gave her over his shoulder only made her more suspicious. She wasn't sure if he was trying to free his wrist or trying to get her to keep walking but Addie refused to let go and wouldn't move. Determined she demanded, "Why did Elena go to you for help?"

"I'm not having this argument where they can hear us," he muttered firmly, before continuing up the stairs, knowing Addie would follow. Addie liked to publicly air their dirty laundry just about as much as he did.

In his room on top of his dresser, Damon turned on the noise generator he had bought when he and Addie first started to hang out. The sounds of crashing waves and gulls calling filled the room; the same sounds they had heard on their first official date. He poured a small measure of bourbon in preparation for the possibly long fight but Addie snatched it out of his hand.

"You don't get this until I know what you did that has _Stefan_ , of all people, so pissed off," Addie hissed, holding the glass above her head as he held his hand open expectantly.

Damon rolled his eyes; Addie, a full head shorter than him, could not hold anything out of his reach. He wouldn't even need to "cheat" and use his vampire abilities to get the drink back from her if he wanted to. "I am not a child and I will not be treated as such," he said, making sure to keep his voice calm and reasonable as he easily plucked the glass from her fingers. "You don't get to take things away from me just because you're upset for reasons you don't even know."

Crossing her arms Addie scowled at him, "Well, you're the one who implied this will be an argument so I'm assuming you know you did something that's going to piss me off."

He snorted and took a small sip. "Yeah, it's going to piss you off because you're completely jealous and unreasonable when it comes to your sister."

Her instinct was to deny it but she knew there was some truth to his words. "Stefan tends to be a bit more objective and he's pretty upset. So, what did you do?"

"Elena and Stefan came back from their camping trip. Elena came to me to me at the Grill. She told me that she wasn't tolerating the animal blood, like I predicted," he explained, casually sipping his bourbon.

"What did you do?" Addie repeated through clenched teeth. "What do you mean she couldn't tolerate animal blood?"

"I told you, Addie. Vampires weren't meant to live on animal blood. Her body completely rejected it. She couldn't keep it down. Naturally, I offered to help her embrace being a vampire. But your sister is so…." He growled in frustration as he searched for the right word. "You two are both so damn _stubborn_ and _difficult_. She insisted she _wouldn't_ feed on humans but she _couldn't_ feed on animals."

Addie's stomach churned sickeningly as she comprehended, "Leaving vampire blood." She scoffed in disgusted. " _Please_ tell me you didn't."

"It's not a big deal," Damon lied.

" _You_ were the one who told me that blood sharing was special and personal!" she exclaimed, running her fingers through her hair.

"And now I'm telling you it's not a big deal. So, don't worry about it," he insisted, pouring another drink.

Addie shook her head. She didn't understand the crazy world of vampires but something was off. "No. It's enough of a _deal_ that it bothers Stefan, signaling it should bother me."

"You're going to take emotional cues from my brother, a guy whose humanity was off two months ago?" he countered.

"I don't have to take emotional cues from Stefan," she snapped. "I know that Elena feeding from you makes me feel…."

He smirked slightly and suggested, "Jealous?"

"No," she sighed irritably. She knew what it felt like to be jealous of Elena; this was something new. "It makes me feel _icky_ ,"

The corners of his mouth twitched as he fought a smile. "I don't know if that's an actual feeling."

"It doesn't matter," she shrugged, sinking onto his bed. "Elena drinking your blood makes me feel icky. It makes my skin crawl. It makes me sick to my stomach. And worse it _hurts_ right here." Addie rubbed right over her heart.

Damon quietly sat next to her as he tried to think of the proper response. Eventually he nudged her foot with his. "I think I know how icky feels. It sounds a lot like how I felt when I found out that Klaus fed you his blood."

"Yeah, except I didn't have a choice. Klaus forced his blood on me to keep me from dying. Elena's already dead so you can't tell me you were saving her life," Addie mumbled sulkily.

He set his empty glass on the bed and took her hand in his, threading their fingers together. Even if he wanted to lie to Addie, he couldn't. Always being honest was difficult, though. "While Elena's body was rejecting the blood, she was far from desiccating. I could have - _should have_ told her to go to Stefan. You were right that it's none of my business. But she was scared and… I don't know. I just had this urge to protect her."

"Why?"

"She's your sister and I automatically want to look after her because of that."

"That's not what I'm asking," she said softly.

Misinterpreting his silence for an unwillingness to tell her the truth, Addie tried to draw her hand away but Damon's grasp tightened. It wasn't that he didn't want to answer her; it was that he didn't know how. Feeding Elena his blood was something he knew he shouldn't have done from the start but he couldn't explain why he had to be the hero.

"I don't know, Addie. Maybe because Elena and Stefan saved you and now I feel indebted to them?"

Addie's free hand traveled through her hair. It wasn't a particularly an answer she liked but she didn't have much of a choice. Knowing she was being selfish she asked, "Could you just, you know, not share your blood with her? Or anyone else, for that matter. I know that's not exactly a conversation we've ever had but, I mean, I've turned down other people's offer to heal me because, well, the idea of anyone's blood in me besides yours just makes me uncomfortable. I get that you want to help my sister but…."

"You don't have to worry about qualifying your feelings to me," he reassured her, cupping her face so her eyes met his. "If you're not comfortable with something, I won't do it. Besides, Elena's body also rejected my blood. She needed human blood, like I said from the start."

"Did she feed on Matt?" Addie wondered, recalling the bandage on his neck.

Damon nodded. "That guy I told you about, the independent contractor asking about the explosion, is some kind of vampire hunter. He was the one who shot Tyler with those specially carved or vervain soaked bullets the other night. He set up a trap at the church to catch a vampire. I don't know if he suspected Elena but as soon as Tyler showed his face at the podium, he shot."

Flopping onto her back in exasperation Addie grumbled, "You, tomb vampires, Katherine, Klaus, the Founder's Council and now a new vampire with super bullets and traps. Will there _ever_ be a dull moment in our lives?"

"We could consider right now to be pretty dull," Damon said suggestively. He grabbed her hands and pinned them over her head, holding them in place with one hand as he loomed over her. He smirked when he noticed her flush slightly and drop her gaze from his, but not before she licked her lower lip in a way that was all too provocative and familiar.

"This," Addie said, her voice cracking as Damon's warm breath hit the base of her next, "is definitely not dull."

"Sure it is," he murmured, his lips ghosting up the tender skin of her throat.

At first, when this had all began, he had thought it was her innocence that had attracted him. He had been almost positive that once he had tarnished that innocence, the attraction would disappear and things could return to normal. At least, as normal as things ever got for him. Still, eight months in and he had yet to bring himself to ruin that innocence.

He hadn't felt this way for her at first, not in the beginning. She had only been a child when he had first seen her, and he may be many things but a pedophile wasn't one of them. Technically he was an ephebophile, someone attracted to someone almost fully grown, typically aged 15 to 16. However, where he came from, 1864, Addie would have already been married off and been a mother. She was an adult in his eyes; even if she did have childish tendencies. She was still probably more mature than he was.

He cupped her face in his hand, his thumb caressing her throat; her eyelids fluttered shut, she softly sighed. He was smiling when he kissed her, which meant it wasn't very satisfactory, but she didn't seem to mind.

Kissing was a serious matter though; it deserved proper consideration and attention to detail. He angled his nose just so, and settled his mouth more firmly on hers. He could taste the salt of fries on her, a pleasantly different sensation on her hot lips. They moved together, slow, subtle movements at first, then her mouth opened to him. Oh the urge to possess her mouth was overwhelming, to rush on ahead, but Damon Salvatore knew the advantages raising the heat slowly to a steady simmer before the rolling boil.

He parted from her reluctantly, then dipped back for another kiss.

"This is definitely not on the approved list of dull activities," Addie reprimanded.

"Hmmm," hummed Damon contemplatively. "Do you want me to stop?"

Addie tried to break his hold on her hands but when she couldn't, she lifted her head towards his. He wouldn't give her hands but he was a reasonable man, he was willing to compromise.

She lipped suggestively at the clove she removed from the orange, her eyes intent as he free the top buttons of his robes, and trailed a finger along the elegant line of his neck.

"Hmmm," mimicked Addie, her face now warm against his neck. It was a slow and thorough exploration, with hot lips and swirling tongue, dwelling on that sweet spot that made him gasp for breath, then trailing up to take his earlobe in a soft, sucking nip.

Damon groaned as she dove back in for a kiss. Where he had hesitated, she did not, and confidently took possession of his mouth – her tongue tracing his lips and then dipping inside in a way that set his blood on fire.

When she finally broke away, several exquisite minutes later, he said in a soft, breathless voice, "You cheated."

Addie drew back in mock offence. "How? You've literally got me trapped by the hands."

"I don't know. You just always say I cheat with my vampire advantages. You cheat with your lush lips and beautiful eyes."

"That makes no sense."

"So? You only make sense 90% of the time," he argued defensively.

Addie hands twisted in his grasp, her fingers desperate to tangle in his hair. "You're lucky I love you."

"I know," he grinned. "I love you, too."

Addie gave a startled squeak as Damon pulled her into his arms. He kissed her with all the passion that had been so carefully restrained before, and she responded enthusiastically matching him kiss for kiss and caress for caress.

There was nothing tentative about his kiss. He seemed very sure of his welcome but he wasn't taking anything for granted either, teasing her with feathery kisses along her throat before coming back to invade her mouth. He let her hands tangle in his hair, pulling him closer. She nipped at his bottom lip, then slid her tongue into the depths of his mouth. She traced lazy circles, reveling in the whimpers she was coaxing from him.

* * *

"What is this stupid thing we're going to, again?" Addie grumbled as she got out of Damon's car at the high school.

Just as moodily Damon replied, "I don't know. Stefan just said to meet him here."

"And you didn't think to question why?" she retorted as they headed towards the picnic tables where Caroline, Stefan, Matt, Elena, Jeremy, and Bonnie all sat.

He chose not to answer that; knowing that he should have asked. No better opportunity than the present. As they got closer he said to his brother, "Stefan, what are we doing?"

Stefan began to pass around paper lanterns as he spoke. "We're finishing the memorial we didn't get to have earlier."

Addie threw up her hands in frustration and began to walk back to the car. That was all she needed to hear. She didn't do memorials. It didn't matter if coffins were there or not. There was only one thing that could stop her in her tracks - guilt.

"Addison!" Ellen called after her sister, making her freeze.

"We need to start healing, guys," continued Stefan. "We've all lost so much, especially recently. I think we're numb to it. We push it away. We make a joke out of it. Ignore how we feel. We've never just let ourselves grieves."

Addie pinched the bridge of her nose; they were so clueless.

Bitterly Damon asked, "So, you're lighting lanterns?"

Silently Addie blessed him. Thank God he realized how stupid it sounded. Light up some paper lanterns was not grieving.

"Yeah," nodded Stefan. "Yeah, we need to do this."

"What we need to do is find out who this hunter is and what he knows about the death of the Council. We have more important things to be doing right now than this!" exclaimed Damon.

Sometimes he was extremely irrational but when Damon made sense, he usually did a good job of making an excellent point. He seemed to be the only other person besides Addie grounded in reality. Having a lantern memorial wasn't going to solve anything.

"Not tonight, we don't."

Damon scoffed and Addie heard him head back towards her.

"This is for my uncle Zach and my friend Lexi and for Alaric."

"This is mental," Addie whispered in an undertone to Damon when he caught up to her. She knew immediately from his clenched jaw, long strides and balled fist that something was wrong. "What's up?"

He shook his head and held open the car door for her. Addie would have been annoyed at the way he flashed into the driver seat and started the engine but he was clearly very bothered.

"I'm gonna take you home," he muttered, peeling out of the school parking lot, the tires squealing.

Gently her hand landed on his knee and gave a reassuring squeeze. Softly she encouraged, "Talk to me, Damon."

His grip on the steering wheel tightened until his knuckles were white and he let out a long breath. "I'm going to Ric's grave. I know you think that's pointless and stu-"

"I'll go with you," Addie offered. "Just because I don't goes to memorials and funerals doesn't mean I don't believe in supporting whatever you need. I hated Elena but I still went with her to our parents' graves."

He gave her a quick glance and tightened his hand around hers. It meant a lot to have her support no matter what.

* * *

"They're floating lanterns in the sky! Can you believe that? A Japanese lantern is the symbol of letting go of the past. Well, here's a news flash: we're not Japanese!" Damon ranted at Alaric's tombstone. He took another swig from the bottle of bourbon.

Addie sat on the bench in the cemetery as she watched Damon go off. He had been venting for ten minutes solid about everything that had happened since the accident. It was vaguely concerning that he had a bottle of bourbon stashed in his trunk but his alcohol issues were one of her last concerns at this point. It was apparent just how much he had been… not necessarily keeping from her but holding in. He missed Alaric.

"Do you know what they are? Children. Like lighting a candle is going to make everything okay or even saying a prayer or pretending Elena is not going to end up just like the rest of us murderous vampires."

Addie had to bite her tongue to keep from making a remark about that. Her stomach twisted in that familiar guilty way.

"Stupid, delusional, exasperating little children. I know what you're going to say: 'It makes them feel better, Damon." So, what? For how long? A minute? A day? What difference does it make?" Damon got up and walked towards Alaric's grave, still speaking to it. "Because in the end, when you lose somebody; every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing that you have left is a hole in your life where that somebody you cared about used to be about." He patted the tombstone and sat on it. "And a rock with a birthday carved into it that I'm pretty sure is wrong. So, thanks, friend. Thanks for leaving me here to babysit, because I should have been long gone by now. I've got my girl but whatelse? I'm just stuck here fighting with my brother and taking care of the kids."

Damon took a final swig from the bottle of bourbon before setting it next to the headstone and walking away.

Addie's fingers ran through her hair anxiously as she followed after Damon. Did he really believe that about Elena? Did he consider her one of the children he had to babysit? What did he mean by he had his girl but whatelse? Was she not enough for him? Was he not happy with his life?

In her pocket Addie's phone began to vibrate. She pulled it out and saw Klaus' name on the caller idea before rejecting the call.

She could only handle one drama king at a time and Damon would always be her priority.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry it took so long for the update! Would you guys rather have long up dates that are much farther apart or shorter more frequent updates?**

 **Thank you guys so much for your support! I'm elated to see how many of you are still interested in hearing this story!**

 **Unfortunately Addie didn't turn but then she wouldn't be of much use to Klaus. *Hint, hint! Possible loophole?* I think what is planned next for her is exciting and it will be interesting to see how she gets out of it.**


	3. Chapter 3

Shivering slightly, Addie pulled the heavy satin blanket around her shoulders. Her chin rested on the hand that covered Damon's beating heart. Normally their sleeping arrangement kept her at the perfect temperature. When she was alone, she'd always start off cold but end up growing too hot and wind up kicking the blankets to the floor in the middle of the night. However, Damon was the perfect temperature from the effects of caffeine when they would first lie down and his body would gradually cool as hers heated, keeping her at a perfect temperature. Now that the temperatures were getting colder at night, that system wasn't running as ideally.

In his sleep, Damon looked relaxed and peaceful, a complete opposite of the stressed, frustrated, and angry mess he had been the night before. A chill ran down her spine as she recalled his words from the previous night.

" _Because in the end, when you lose somebody; every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing that you have left is a hole in your life where that somebody you cared about used to be…. So, thanks, friend. Thanks for leaving me here to babysit, because I should have been long gone by now. I've got my girl but whatelse? I'm just stuck here fighting with my brother and taking care of the kids."_

She had wanted to talk about it when they got back to the boardinghouse but Damon was in a mood to drown his sorrows in the bottom of a bottle. Shutting her out wasn't something he regularly did so she had let it pass for the night but the words still concerned her.

"You're staring," mumbled Damon, his voice rough and husky from sleep.

"Sorry," Addie whispered, turning her head to rest it on his chest.

"I," he drawled as his legs entwined tighter with hers and his arms held her tighter, "don't mind. What's wrong?"

Her finger traced light patterns on his chest as she sighed, "Nothing."

Slipping a hand under his shirt she wore, Damon wrapped an arm around her bare waist. Sleepily he confronted, "You stare when something is wrong. I know you, love."

"I just…"

"Ads, what is it?' he asked softly, sounding much more alert.

"Last night you said somethings," she said reluctantly. She didn't want to start a confrontation first thing in the morning.

Already knowing some of what might have been bothering her, he quickly replied, "You're not one of the children I'm stuck here babysitting. I'll admit that you can be stubbornly immature on particular topics but, Ads, without Alaric around, I feel like you're the only other adult I can confide in."

"Um, thanks. You still said you should have been gone by now," she said, trying to shift away from him uncomfortably but he held her closer.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Ads. I _want_ to leave this town. It's dangerous. But I don't want to leave this town alone; I want to leave with you. Your plan to get the hell out of here as soon as you're done with school? I can't wait for that. Mystic Falls is a magnet for horror and I want to get you as far away from it as possible," Damon admitted as he stroked a lock of hair behind her ear.

That was all before Elena had turned into a vampire. Jeremy had no human siblings left. She wasn't sure she could just leave him. But that was a problem for future Addie; she wasn't going to ruin her time with Damon over that particular conversation just yet.

"You haven't talked to me about Alaric. I didn't realize how much you were missing him," she said gently, her fingers pressing along his jaw, his stubble prickling at her.

Damon closed his eyes, unable to take the heartbreaking sympathy in Addie's deep blue gaze. "Of course I miss him," he sighed, "but I had no choice but to kill him. He was going to kill you; he was going to kill all of us." His eyes flashed open and met her deep blue orbs, there was a fierce protectiveness in his voice as he promised, "I will never regret protecting you."

In a small, uncertain voice she wondered, "Even if 'the only thing that you have left is a hole in your life where that somebody you cared about used to be?'"

He briefly cocked his head as he recalled her words. Scoffing dryly, Damon cradled Addie's face and pulled her close to him, "That was never about Ric. That was about you. I was a mess after the wreck. I had no idea if you were going to be ok. I was losing my mind. I was terrified that you were going to die. My life… I don't know what, or even who I'd be without you."

That was intense.

"You told me Dr. Fell said I was completely fine," she whispered, her voice tight with emotion.

"But I had no idea if you were in transition! I knew you wouldn't go through with it. I knew if you were in transition, those would be those my last few hours with you. It was the most terrifying time of my life. I was so close to losing you," he confessed, his voice lower than usual.

Addie felt her eyes water, frustrating her. It seemed like all she had done since the accident was cry. At least 95% of the time her body didn't betray her and she could hold off the tears until she was curled up in a fetal position under her blankets.

There was an uncomfortable tightening in his chest as the tip of her nose turned bright red and she chewed at her lip. He knew her eyes were screwed shut to keep from crying. He didn't know what he had done wrong but it had been like this a lot lately; something he'd say would bring her to tears but she would never tell him _why_.

"Ads, don't. Please don't cry," he begged softly, his lips brushing the corner of her mouth. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad at you," she promised as she was mesmerized by his crystal blue eyes.

One of the benefits to spending nearly all of his time with the woman he was in love with was that he had picked up on her very expressive body language. It took a long time for Addie to learn how to vocalize her feelings with him and she still struggled to do so; but her actions could usually give him some insight to what was going on. Their bare legs were entangled like every morning but it was herself who had started to play footsie with hom. Addie frequently played with his hair for several reasons including the fact that it frustrated him when she messed up his perfectly styled look and, in a moment of weakness, he admitted to loving how the way it felt. It wasn't the random method she used to toy with his hair now; her fingers ran from root to tip in a repetitive motion, the same way she ran through her hair. The awkward body language and familiar habit all pointed to one thing: Addie was nervous. However, she _never_ initiated eye contact unless it was something serious.

His strong hand gave a reassuring sweeping up and down her back and his fingers twisted in her own her in an attempt to offer comfort. Tenderly he encouraged, "What is it?"

Addie hesitated a moment. "We both almost lost each other that night. All I could think about how the last thing I had told you was basically that I was too furious at you for saving my life to even say goodnight to you." She faltered again, her face flushing. She wanted to go brush her teeth.

"I understood why you were upset; I put other people, including Jeremy, in danger to save you," he said, trying to convey that he wasn't mad if that was what was concerning her.

She nodded, not really processing his words. "I just…. That night made everything so much more _real_. I know I've always tried to convince you that you are not truly immortal. I've always been frightened that Klaus will kill you. That night was the first time I was truly terrified that you were going to actually die, though, that I might actually lose you forever. It terrifies me to know that could actually happen and I would never…," she trailed off, her voice fading as her eyes drifted to his lips. They were soft, supple and slightly parted. His tongue made a quick appearance to lick at the rosy flesh. Was it possible that _she_ had made _the_ Damon Salvatore nervous? Or perhaps she had made him uncomfortable. Immediately she began to pull away from him.

Knowing she had somehow reached the wrong conclusion, Damon quickly and gently captured her face in his hands, his touch soft but commanding. without smiling at her, without saying a word, without doing anything other than meeting her eyes, he slowly positioned her until her mouth hovered just over his, their breaths mingling. Her eyes fluttered close as his lips brushed against her in a light touch that sent shiver through her nerves, shivers that made her whole body tremble. All of Damon's kisses are electrifying but this gentle brush is new and different and a promise of so much more.

"I know," he whispered breathlessly, his heart hammering in anticipation, excitement, and a twinge of fear. "I've been thinking the same thing."

Addie's mouth went dry as her fingers clutched at the pillow on either side of Damon's head. It felt like she had just dropped off the highest hill of a rollercoaster, leaving her heart and stomach at the top. They were finally on the same page. Tentatively she asked, "How does this work?"

"Well, I believe we were on the right track," Damon smirked teasingly.

The protective barrier he had created since the accident crumbled as he gave into lust, passion, and longing in a moment of madness where body ruled mind and blood roared over reason. He had been so desperate for Addie once the reality of losing her had settled in that he literally ached for her. The past week had been the first time in their entire relationship he had ever had to resort to cold showers. They both knew they wanted to take their relationship to the next level physically but they had discussed only days before the accident to not to "just yet." The last thing he ever wanted to do was pressure her into something she wasn't ready for. However, his desire had been so strong he had been careful to not allow anything more than innocent, chaste kisses and he had tried to put a little more space between them at night.

He kissed her with all the passion that had been so carefully restrained before, and she responded enthusiastically matching him kiss for kiss and caress for caress. There was nothing tentative about his touch but he was gentle and careful. That wasn't what Addie wanted,though, not now, not after she finally admitted so many truths to herself and him. Her hand fisted into his hair and tugged slightly, pulling his mouth firmer against hers. He groaned softly, low in his throat. A hand snaked under his shirt she wore and up her bare back. The other slid under the set of waistbands, low on her hip, and griped at the tone muscles of her behind, gently kneading and squeezing.

There was a struggle for control, which Damon relinquished when Addie gave a sharp bite to his lower lip and took it in a soothing kiss. His fingertips pressed just below her shoulder blade in reaction, making her squirm and wince slightly in pain. He had to remind himself to mind his strength.

Addie lips quickly passed along his strong jaw, his morning scruff prickling at her. She skimmed along the shell of his ear before taking the lobe between her teeth and tugging gently. Sighing softly Damon angled his head to allow her better access to his neck. Her mouth was the searing fire of life against his chilled skin as she trailed open-mouth kisses down his throat. A ragged growl ripped through him as she played on his weakness, pulling at his hair as her teeth sank into the tender flesh just behind where his ear and jaw met. Addie may never have a vampire's durability or strength for sex and she may never be able to share blood with him like Elena could but she had finally learned that she wasn't going to cause him anything but pleasure. It was such a relief that she didn't flinch at every sound of pleasure he made.

His eyes flashed open in horror as Addie placed sweet kisses along his collarbone and the hollow of his throat. How the hell could he think of blood sharing with _Elena_ while he was in bed with _Addie_? He didn't want Elena. He didn't love Elena. It wasn't a big deal that he couldn't blood share with Addie. Furious at himself, Damon mentally shook his head to clear it of all thoughts. He forced himself to focus solely on the twin trails of fire Addie create as she used a single finger to outline both his pectorals. She continued to trace his ribs and down to his abdominals, the muscles flexing under her touch.

Her mouth descended on his chest, drawing soft whimpers of satisfaction from Damon as her mouth reached the bare skin, following a similar pattern her fingers had. His head pushed back into the pillow and he lost the ability to form a coherent train of thought as her thumbs pressed into the V that framed his abs, dipping below the waistband of his boxers and her mouth covered over his nipple. He let out a strangled groan of her name as she lightly nipped down his stomach and her nail raked through the fine patch of hair that ran from the base of his naval, disappearing into his boxers. Warm heat surround him as he slowly felt the satin of his boxers circle around his arousal.

He quickly reversed the situation, gently cradling Addi's head as it landed against the pillow.

"You cheated!" Addie scowled, pouting slightly as she shoved him in the shoulder slightly.

"You cheated first," Damon murmured, his voice low and husky as he bent close to her ear.

Genuinely confused Addie frowned and insisted, "No, I didn't."

"You most definitely did," mainted Damon, his cool breath flaring along the sensitive skin of her neck, sending chills down her spine. "I may be a vampire but I am still merely a man in love with a gorgeous, sexy, intelligent, sweet, amazing woman. But a man nonetheless. _Actually_ , I'm a vampire man so my lust and desire are roughly 5000 times magnified whatever you're feeling."

" _Actually_ ," Addie began to counter in her victorious, know-it-all voice, "I'm a teenager with raging hormones. I think I have the claim on more lust and desire right now. And I didn't cheat."

"No. See, for girls, all those raging hormones go away as they get a little older but for guys, they only get worse. We think about sex non-stop. And you were definitely cheating. I need to keep some semblance of control and it's definitely hard to do that when you do _that_ ," he explained, teasingly nipping his way down her neck.

Addie's leg wrapped around his waist instinctively and she moaned softly as he sucked softly at her pulse point. Her fingers slid into his hair, holding him to her. "I know you're the, um, expert in this area but I don't think this is really going to work if I can't touch you."

"You are touching me," smirked Damon as he placed slow, languid kisses along her jaw. His hand gently grasped under her thigh, just above where her knee hooked over his bare waist. Deliberately he slowly traveled up her leg, his hand going under the hem of his boxers and her boyshorts. He gripped her hip softly, moving her against him as he rolled into her.

"Smartass," she gasped, meeting his lips for a desperate, artless kiss as he began a steady rhythm.

Between hasty kisses he cheekily retorted, "You started it."

Addie squirmed uncomfortably against Damon as he continued to rock into her. Low in her stomach was that surprising, exciting dropping feeling she got when her car went over a bump but further south than usual. Only the feeling wasn't dissipating; it was growing. But not fast enough.

It took more self-control than Damon cared to admit to halt his motions but he was too close. He grumbled reluctantly to himself as he buried his face in his pillow next to Addie's. Whining softly she wiggled beneath him, trying to regenerate the delicious friction.

His hand firmly pushed down on her hip as he said warningly, "Addison."

"Damon," Addie begged, gently nibbling at his earlobe and lightly raking her nails along his scalp in attempt to convince him to do what she wanted.

"Trust me?" he asked after losing a brief battle of wills.

Rolling her eyes, she gave a quick squeeze with the leg hooked over his hip and scoffed, "Obviously."

"Then do as I say and move."

There was an undignified scramble, which resulted in him sitting against pillows propped up on the headboard and Addie sitting in his lap, her back to him, and his long legs stretched out on either side of her.

Addie frowned in mild discomfort as that exciting feeling in the pit of her stomach almost entirely vanished. Sullenly she started, "This is…"

"Arms up," Damon commanded, his voice quiet but authoritative. She complied and he easily removed the oversized shirt in one swift motion. Addie made a reflexive move to cover herself, an action Damon had anticipated and decided he would allow, for now. His fingers stroked along her throat, gathering all the long dark red hair and settling it over one shoulder, leaving her back a bare, golden canvas for him to work with. He pressed a cool kiss at the juncture of her jaw and neck and was rewarded with a gentle sigh.

Damon gently laid his arms over Addie's, which she had across her chest as he gently teased her by recalling her own words. "I know I'm the, um, expert in this area and I don't think this is really going to work if I can't touch you."

"You can. I just… I expected this to involve more coverage," she said in a sheepish voice, eyeing the discarded comforter longingly. "Or that it would happen at night, when everything isn't so bright. At least, that's always how it is in the movies."

Damon buried his face where her neck and shoulder met and fought to keep from laughing. He was going to burn in hell. He chuckled when Addie awkwardly elbowed him in the ribs, not wanting to uncross her arms. "Ow."

"You're a dick," she scowled, her eyes darting around for the shirt she had been wearing.

"I know. I'm sorry," Damon said. He counted backwards from ten and forced himself to regain control. "I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at the situation. Movies are not exactly a great source of education on sex. And, personally, I'm a very visual person; I like being able to see exactly what I'm doing," his voice dropped an octave as he added, "and how you respond."

Addie swallowed audibly as a deeper shade of red covered her face and chest.

Damon's fingers trailed along her arms and gently began to message once he reached her biceps. He thought over his words carefully; having worked his way all the way up to her shoulders when he finally decided on what to say. "I _want_ to be with you, Addie. I've wanted to for a long time. But I want us to only physically be together under the right conditions. Part of that involves you not being embarrassed to be naked in front of me."

"I'm not embarrassed," Addie sighed, her head rolling back onto Damon's shoulder as his miracle fingers made her neck feel like rubber.

"Then what's wrong?" he encouraged, placing a tender kiss on her temple.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I guess because I don't walk around shirtless with a perfectly chiseled chest all the time like some people I'm just not entirely comfortable with sitting around topless."

"We could totally do Topless Tuesdays, Topless Thursdays, Shirtless Saturdays, and Shirtless Sundays until you become comfortable with it," Damon said seriously. He saw the corners of her mouth twitch and leaned in for a soft, innocent kiss.

"You couldn't come up with anything for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays?" she asked, eyebrows arched in a challenge.

His thumbs moved in subtle circles parallel to the architecture of her spines, and he could feel the tension leaching out of her. "Material-less Mondays," he announced a third of the way down her back. He wasn't sure if her soft moan was in approval of his massage abilities or alliteration skills. "Wear-less Wednesdays." Damon frowned when the pad of his thumb circled over a particularly firm spot and Addie shifted slightly. Needlessly he said, "You have a knot."

Addie nodded against his shoulder and muttered, "Normal people get knots because they exercise; I get them when i don't train for a week. How's that fair?"

"I'm pretty sure this," he lightly brushed over the knot, "is from the stress and tension and pent up emotions that have kept you from training; it's not because you didn't actually train. Do you want me to work it out or let it be?"

Addie reached around to prod at her back and Damon guided her hand to right where the tense bundle of nerves were. She cursed under her breath as she felt the entirety of the knot. It was large and extremely tight. That was why he had asked; it was going to hurt. But it would feel _so_ good when it was gone. "Work it out."

She inhaled sharply as Damon began his process of rapidly vibrating his fingers over the muscle to warm it up; this part was bearable. The application of intense, direct pressure with the heel of his hand for several seconds followed by a second of relief made her jaw clench. It was his process of digging his thumbs into the muscle and forcibly pushing the fibers into a more relaxed positioned that caused her to curse and groan and grip at his bare thighs on either side of her.

Damon hissed as Addie's nails bit into his skin, a couple cutting deep enough to draw a small amount of blood. He could already feel himself heal as he asked in concern, "Too painful? Want me to stop."

"No," she insisted, despite instinctively arching away from his touch. His touch lightened. Addie whimpered as she buried her face into his neck, "Don't, please."

Reluctantly he went back to forcefully manipulating the knot away. He hated hurting Addie but he hated when she had muscle cramps or knots that hurt her, a very common issue with her intense track practice. He knew Addie preferred him to work out the kinks hard and fast, even if it meant a sharp pain, instead of letting him slowly work on it, causing a long duration of discomfort even if at a much less intense level. He could tell the worse was over when Addie began to moan softly, leaning into his touch.

"Feels better?" Damon asked softly. Her head had fallen forward and he couldn't read the expression on her face.

Addie's words were slightly slurred together from a comfort induced trance, "Feels amazing."

He gently guided Addie head back until it rested on his shoulder again and kissed her tenderly. His hands continued to travel over the entirety of her back, coax soft sighs of pleasure. Fingertips ghosted along his thighs as Addie traced mindless patterns, her touch occasionally teasing the extremely sensitive skin of his inner thighs.

His fingers traced down her sides, careful to apply enough pressure to keep from tickling her. He caught her gasp in her mouth as his fingers brushed the swell of her breast. He wasn't sure if Addie had even realized she had bared her chest to him.

"Tell me to stop," he murmured in her ear as he delicately traced the underside of her breast.

Addie shook her head as her hand moved higher on his thighs. Her voice was raw and sultry. "I want this. I want you."

* * *

"Wow," she mumbled wearily after a couple of minutes.

"Wow, indeed," Damon agreed. He had always been a selfish sexual partner, always seeking gratification for himself. But watching and holding Addie while she came undone had almost been too much for him to handle.

With a lazy, satisfied smile, her hand let go of the satin fabric she held and traveled under his boxers, searching for the arousal she could feel pressing into her back and along her hip.

"Ah! Nu-uh," decided Damon, quickly catching her by the wrist.

Addie flushed, embarrassed that she had done something wrong but not certain what.

"You touch me right now I will explode," he explained, pulling her hand out of his shorts. "And I mean that in the most complimentary way."

Sheepishly she softly asked, "Why would that be a bad thing?"

"Because I'm not a randy teenager at his first makeout session and it would be quite undignified."

Addie turned an even brighter shade of red and mumbled just loud enough for him to hear, "That was your fault."

Though he hated to embarrass her, Damon could help but grin proudly as he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Yes. Yes, that was definitely my fault. You have nothing to be embarrassed about."

Damon's arms crossed over Addie's stomach and she ran her finger along on lightly as she innocently surmised, "We're not having sex." She could feel him breath in deeply, gearing up a speech. Before he could start she said, "You don't have to explain anything. I would just like my shirt back."

"But it's Shirtless Sunday," he objected as he reached behind his head for the shirt. "And, technically, it's my shirt."

"Technicalities are only relevant when I point them out," Addie pouted as she allowed Damon to help her put on the garment. "You know, I think you only did that to distract me from the fact that you couldn't come up with a reason for me to shirtless on Friday."

"Of course I did: Fabric-less Fridays," Damon remarked smugly. As she relaxed against him again he said seriously, "I do owe you an explanation though. We both want to have sex. I know I definitely want to. But we've both said we've been thinking about it since the accident. I just don't want us to have sex because we're scared that we won't get the chance to. I know that you love me and I hope you are aware of how much I love you."

"I am," she said slowly, not liking where the conversation was heading.

"Good. So, we have no need to physically prove our love. We can wait until the right moment,"

Addie frowned. "I'm ready. You're ready. I don't want to sleep with you just because I'm afraid I'm going to lose you. I want to because I want to share that level of intimacy with you."

Damon ran a hand through his tousled hair, wincing at her defensive tone. "Ten days ago you weren't ready," he replied, unable to hide the sharp edge in his voice. "I want to make sure this is something you really want. You don't get a second chance at your first time. So many people regret it or it doesn't live up to their expectations. I want yours to be everything you've ever dreamed of and more. It's not going to be something we suddenly wake up one morning and decide to do."

She groaned in exasperation, "Do you know how hard it is to be dating such a closet romantic?"

"I could start flaunting my romanticism for all the world to see, if you prefer," he offered sarcastically.

"No, no," Addie insisted quickly. "I secretly love your secret romanticism. Since I have no concept of romance, it's probably good one of us does. But just so I'm clear, we _are_ going to have sex at some point in the relatively near future? Because I know it is something that I really want; it's not bred from fear."

"Definitely," promised Damon, leaning in to seal the deal with a loving, innocent kiss. He pulled away quickly as Addie tried to deepen it. A look of concern flashed across her face and he gave her a cheeky, reassuring grin as he made to get up. "Right now I have to take a really long, really cold shower."

* * *

The pencil beat against the wooden desk rhythmically as Addie stared blankly down at the complex calculus assignment. Ditching an entire week of school to sulk and feel guilty probably hadn't been the best idea but she had recovered from worse. She was completely capable of teaching herself indefinite integrals, Leibniz notation and anti-derivatives. It would just help if she wasn't constantly distracted by thoughts of her sister, or Damon, or the accident, or the fact that Jeremy was stuck with a vampire for a sister. Or that there was an insane hunter that shot Tyler Lockwood in front of the entire town and Damon thought it was his job to take out this hunter _on his own_.

The cell phone vibrated loudly against Addie's desk, making her jump as she was pulled from her thoughts. Scowling at the caller ID, her immediate instinct was to reject the call; but Klaus had called the night before. If she didn't answer him, he would only keep calling. Klaus was nothing if persistent.

Wearily she answered, "You're supposed to be dead."

"Yeah but then Damon would be dead. And Stefan. And Caroline. And Tyler. And, of course, _Elena_ ," replied Klaus, the smirk on his face clear in his tone. "You're glad I'm alive."

Her lips pressed into a thin line, hating that he wasn't entirely wrong. Sharply she demanded, "What do you want?"

"There's a package for you on your front porch."

A chill ran down her spine. "How do you know that? You left town."

"Considering there is a hunter trying to take out one of my hybrids and I cannot make anymore of them, I felt a need to return and sort out the situation. I heard about the accident and I just wanted to offer up a token of condolence," he explained.

Her fingers flitted through her hair nervously as she headed downstairs. Bothered, she pointed out, "You don't do things just to be nice. You do things with an objective."

"I can be nice. This is me being nice," Klaus replied curtly before the line went dead.

"And goodbye to you, too," Addie mumbled to herself as she shoved the phone in her pocket. Klus definitely wasn't a cuddly kitten of kindness.

On the welcome mat were two brown shipping boxes. Curious, Addie took them up to her room and unpacked them. The first contained a sleek, silver laptop. Included was a form detailing the specifications and pre-loaded software. Addie had never seen one so advance commercially advertised for sale and it had all the latest applications of music production technology included and a highly impressive sound system. It had to be custom ordered; however custom ordered laptops could take weeks to get in. How had Klaus managed a turnaround time of a week? He must have paid an additional fortune to the hefty price tag of the laptop. She couldn't even ballpark an idea of how much it had cost him.

Her fingers trailed lightly over the keys as she considered boxing the computer back up. She didn't particularly feel comfortable accepting expensive gifts from Klaus. And Damon definitely wouldn't approve. Stalling on making an official decision she opened the second box, which held a brand new pair of high tech headphones with a sound quality impressive enough for mixing music. They were even better than the pair she had lost in the accident. Addie bit at her lip as she plugged the headphones into the laptop. It had only been a week but it had been an extremely stressful one. She couldn't help if making music was one of her coping mechanism. Unfortunately, she needed a computer for that and Klaus just happened to be the means to an end.

* * *

Addie yawned as she swapped her Latin textbook for her physics book at her locker. She had stayed up all night recording and producing new music tracks in her attic studio.

"So, I'm throwing a little anti-curfew party at my new house," an English accented voice informed her matter-of-factly.

Addie's head turned slowly as she critically looked Rebekah up and down through narrowed eyes. There had been fliers posted all around the school about the new town curfew stating everyone had to be inside by 10PM. Security was cracking down considering the mayor's son was shot in front of half the town.

Unfazed by Addie's icy gaze the blonde continued, "It starts at fifth period and goes 'til whenever. You're welcome to come if you'd like to bury the hatchet."

Addie's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief as her head cocked slightly; she couldn't be serious. Over enunciating she reminded Rebekah, "You tortured my boyfriend."

"Because he played with my mind. Fair is fair."

"I'm not coming to your party," Addie declared, spinning on her heel as she slammed her locker shut.

At the other end of the hall Addie saw the man who had asked about the bandage on Matt's neck at the Grill talking to Jeremy. The man with the intricate tattoo. She started to head in their direction to see what was going on but the tardy bell rang, signaling the start of physics. She would just have to ask Jeremy in class.

* * *

The incessant ringing of his phone pulled Damon from a restless sleep. Addie hadn't wanted him to come over the night before. Initially she had said she was too busy with homework and she didn't want to be distracted by him, not that he ever distracted her from schoolwork. When it go later into the night and he figured she would be winding down for sleep, Addie had said that she just needed space and a night away from him. She had completely brushed off his question when he had asked about her nightmares. It had been very unsettling for her to push him away. Damon hadn't managed to fall asleep until he heard Stefan getting for school. He couldn't sleep without Addie. As much as he hated to admit it, their relationship seemed to be extremely codependent.

His hopes briefly rose at the idea that it was possibly Addie that was calling only the be crushed and aggravated to see she was not.

"What?" he growled into the infernal device.

"It's about Addie," answered the tense, anxious voice of her brother.

Damon sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. An impending sense of dread filled his chest as he demanded, "What happened?"

"The vampire hunter, Connor Jordan, he knows something about her. He has this tattoo that he says is invisible to anyone but another hunter, a potential hunter, or a blood sister of a hunter/potential hunter. He knows I can see the tattoo. He knows Addie can see the tattoo," Jeremy said, obviously holding something back.

Addie had mentioned that Klaus had said something about Jeremy. That he could possibly Hulk-out and " _he'll be stronger, faster, and have a thirst to kill vampires."_ Had Klaus meant he was some kind of potential hunter? Were they actually dealing with some new, specialized breed of hunter? According to Klaus, Addie's poisonous blood and resistance to compulsion was to protect her from vampires that Jeremy might bring into her life.

"Ok. What's the big deal about Addie seeing the tattoo?" sighed Damon, his fingers running through his hair as he still tried to shake off the hazy feeling of sleep.

"Connor said if I find him a vampire he'll train me, teach me how to do what he does. He said to find a vampire I should start by looking around my sister, that they are attracted to her." There was a pause as Jeremy waited for Damon to respond. When the older man didn't say anything he stressed, "If he thinks Addie is in league with vampires, she's not safe, at least not with this guy."

"I know. I get it," Damon admitted reluctantly as he quickly sorted through possible plans of action. "How are you supposed to get in contact with him when you find a vampire?"

"He's on Hudson, off Route 13," Jeremy said slowly, not seeing where Damon was headed. "What are you going to do?"

"Where's this guy right now?"

"Still here at school, I think. I just got done talking to him."

"Alright," said Damon, getting out of bed and starting to dress. He would shower later. "Hang tight for now but keep an eye on your phone. I might need you in a bit."

* * *

" _[Ambrogio] couldn't sleep that night. He stayed awake outside of the temple, pondering the meaning of the Pythia's words. As the sun rose in the morning he realized that he had not slept. As he walked back toward the town he saw a beautiful woman dressed in white robes walking to the temple. He ran over to her and introduced himself._

 _Her name was Selene, and she was a maiden of the temple. Her sister was the Oracle, and so Selene tended to the temple and took care of her sister while in her entranced state._

For the next few days every morning Ambrogio met Selene at dawn before she entered the temple. They soon fell in love.

 _On his last day in Greece, Ambrogio asked Selene to marry him and return with him to Italy. She agreed. He said he would make the preparations then meet her at dawn the next morning at their meeting spot outside the temple._

Apollo, the sun god, had been watching. He himself had taken a liking to the beautiful Selene and was enraged that Ambrogio would come to his temple and take one of his maidens away. At sunset that night, Apollo appeared to Ambrogio and cursed him so that from that day forth a mere touch of Apollo's sunlight would burn Ambrogio's skin.

 _Ambrogio was distraught. He was set to leave with Selene in the morning, but he would not be able to meet her at sunrise as he promised because of the curse. Having nowhere else to turn, he ran to a cave that led to Hades for protection. Hades, god of the underworld, listened to his tale and made him a deal - if he could steal the silver bow of Artemis and bring it back, Hades would grant him and Selene protection in the underworld. The deal specified that Hades would give Ambrogio a magical wooden bow and 11 arrows to hunt with. He was to offer his hunting trophies to Artemis in order to gain her favor and steal her silver bow. As collateral, Ambrogio had to leave his soul in Hades until he returned with the bow. Should he return without the silver bow, he would have to live in Hades forever, never to return to Selene. Having no other choice, Ambrogio agreed._

 _He had no way to contact Selene. He had parchments, but no writing implement, so he took his bow and arrow and killed a swan. Using its feather as a pen, and its blood as the ink, he wrote her a note explaining that he could not meet with her but would find a way for them to be together. He left the note in their meeting place and ran off to find a place to hide from the sunlight._

Naturally, Selene was devastated when she found the note, but she kept working at the temple as she did not want to anger Apollo any further. The next morning, Selene went back to the meeting place, but once again Ambrogio was not there. She saw another piece of parchment with writing in blood on it. It was a love poem from Ambrogio.

 _Before morning for 44 days Ambrogio slew a swan and used its blood to write Selene a love poem. After draining the blood and taking a single feather he offered the body of the swan as a tribute to Artemis, the goddess of hunting and the moon, and also sister to Apollo. He hoped that even if he could not steal her bow, she would be honored by the tribute and would be able to convince her brother Apollo to remove the curse._

On the 45th night, Ambrogio had only one arrow left. He shot it at a swan and missed, the arrow sailing into the distance. He had neither the blood to write Selene's poem nor the swan to sacrifice to Artemis. He fell to the ground and wept.

 _Seeing how good of a hunter and how dedicated of a follower Ambrogio had been, Artemis came down to him. He begged Artemis to let him borrow her bow and an arrow so he could kill one last bird and leave one final note to Selene._

Artemis took pity on him and agreed to let him borrow her silver bow and an arrow. He took the bow, and in desperation, ran to the cave that led to Hades. Artemis realized what was happening and cast her own curse on Ambrogio. The curse caused all silver burn his skin. Ambrogio dropped the silver bow and fell to the ground in pain.

 _Artemis was furious at his deceit, but he begged her for forgiveness. He explained the deal he was forced to make with Hades, his curse by Apollo, and his love for Selene. He apologized profusely and swore that he had no other choice._

Artemis took pity on him again and decided to give him one last chance. She offered to make him a great hunter, almost as great as she was, with the speed and strength of a god and fangs with which to drain the blood of the beasts to write his poems. In exchange for this immortality, he would have to agree to a deal. He and Selene would have to escape Apollo's temple and worship only Artemis forever. The catch was that Artemis was a virgin goddess, and all of her followers had to remain chaste and unmarried, so Ambrogio was never allowed to touch Selene again. They could never kiss, never touch, never have children.

Ambrogio agreed. At least this way he and Selene could be together. He killed another swan and left Selene a note telling her to meet him on a ship at the docks. Before dawn the next morning, she saw the note and ran away before Apollo could notice" (The Vampire Origin Story).

Addie scowled at the page before clicking to the next screen. Having a computer definitely made it easier to search the relationship between Greek mythology and vampires but it also turned up a lot of… questionable information. She wasn't convinced that the first vampire was created out of a love story. Vampires were monsters; they were not loving, compassionate creatures by nature. It didn't help that she couldn't find any ancient texts to help back up the story. For all she knew, the website made it up. Still, she couldn't just write it off completely. What if she was like the Selene character? She had fallen in love with a vampire, after all.

Her eyes diverted away from the glowing screen as the sound of the bedroom door opened. Expecting to see Damon, her mouth dropped open in surprised when her sister walked in. Addie was about to say something when Elena started to riffle through Damon's dresser, seemingly unaware to her presence.

"I hope you plan on cleaning this up," Damon remarked from the doorway as he noticed his lucky boxers and a pair of jeans that were far too small to be his discarded on the floor.

Elena jumped, startled by his presence, and snapped, "I need bourbon to get through Rebekah's party. Yours is better than Stefan's."

"Top drawer in the dresser. You were searching in Addie's."

"Thanks," she replied after a beat of confusion.

Damon exchanged a look with Addie, who laid stretched out across his bed with a silver laptop. He could have sworn he ordered her a black one. Addie's responding shrug said she had no idea what was going on with her sister.

"You keep alcohol in your underwear drawer?" Elena smirked curiously, holding up a pair of navy boxers.

A surge of jealousy flared inside Addie as she set the laptop aside and sprang off the bed. Elena had already searched the top drawer; she had watched her. The decanter and tumbler were obvious in there. "Nope," Addie declared firmly, snatching the clothing from her sister before shoving it back into the drawer. "Besides, Damon's bourbon is _my_ bourbon and I don't share my bourbon. But you weren't looking for alcohol, were you?"

"You're not allowed to drink," her sister reprimanded, deflecting the question.

"You're not the boss of me. What were you looking for?"

Elena's wide, brown eyes flashed to Damon guiltily.

He scoffed, "Do you think I'd actually leave the last remaining white oak stake where anyone could just walk in and take it?"

Addie's head tilted in confusion. Hadn't that burned up when Klaus appeared to burn up?

"What happened to you?" Elena deflected again, spying blood on Damon's chest as he held open his partially unbuttoned shirt.

"Hunter mishap," he answered shortly.

"You know he was at my school today?" she spat, walking closer to him.

Why hadn't Damon told her the white oak stake had survived the staking of Klaus? Better yet, why didn't she know but _Elena_ knew?

Grimly Damon answered, "Yep. Jeremy told me."

"Why were you talking to Jeremy?" Addie demanded suspiciously, the sound of her brother's name drawing her attention back to the conversation.

"Don't worry about it," he dismissed, shrugging out of his shirt.

"Damon, don't bring him into this," Elena said firmly.

"Perish the thought he might actually be useful, Elena," he quipped, undoing his belt and unfastening his jeans. "You staying for the show or…?

Huffing in irritation Addie grabbed Elena by her upper arm and marched her towards the door. "She's leaving." With a scowl, she shut the door behind her sister, making sure to lock it. Turning back to Damon she repeated, "Why were you talking to Jeremy?"

"The hunter, he talked to Jeremy and he mentioned you. Jeremy was concerned for your safety," Damon replied as he stepped out of the black denim.

Addie swallowed hard against a wave of nausea as she saw a stain of blood above his outer knee. Other people's blood she could deal with but not Damon's. "Are you going to tell me why you're covered in blood?" she asked, nodding towards his chest.

"Like I said, hunter mishap."

"You went after a hunter who has bullets that can kill a regular vampire? Alone?" she glared disapprovingly.

Damon shook his head and held up his hands defensively. " _No._ That's what I wanted to do but didn't I say I was going to try and be safer with my life? I only broke into his trailer. Turns out it was booby-trapped."

Addie pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head wearily. Technically, it was more responsible that what he would have done in the past. He still could have been killed, though. Sometimes he was too much to handle. "Go," she said, pointing to the bathroom. "Go wash the blood off."

* * *

Having showered and dried his hair, Damon leaned against the door frame, watching Addie as she fiddled around on the laptop. Noticing the time on the alarm clock he remarked, "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Rebekah is holding an anti-curfew party. It started at the beginning of fifth period. So, it's like a ditching class and anti-curfew party, I suppose," mumbled Addie as she continued to read the story of Selene and Ambrogio.

His eyebrows rose in disbelief. "You're going to a party Rebekah is throwing?"

"Obviously not but since everyone else was ditching school I figured I would, too. And, yes, if everyone else was jumping off a bridge and it seemed like fun, I would do that, too," she grinned, cutting him off before he could make the retort. Her smile faltered as she met his serious eyes. "Why was that hunter talking to Jeremy? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Have you seen a guy with a giant tattoo on his arm walking around?"

"That's the hunter?"

Damon nodded. "Apparently only you and Jeremy can see the tattoo. Jeremy can see it because he is a _potential hunter_ and you can see it because you are his blood sister."

Klaus words from the summer echoed in her ear: _"Special people. Siblings, particularly female siblings to potential hunters, like Jeremy."_

"A potential hunter is what Klaus called Jeremy," Addie whispered, horrified.

"Yes, well, I'm more concerned about the fact that this hunter says you attract vampires, which you do, and thinks the best place for Jeremy to go looking for vampires is around you."

"How do _I_ attract vampires?" she snapped, slightly offended at the remark. She had tried to stay away from this supernatural shit but it had kept shoving itself into her life until she had finally accepted it.

He rolled his eyes as he sat on the edge of the bed, his towel shifting lower on his hips. "I've told you this. Your blood smells extremely, enticingly sweet; vampires have a sweet tooth. Of course, a vampire doesn't know he's going to choke on your blood until he drinks it. So, it could be that you physically attract them or…."

"Or what?"

Shaking his head Damon shrugged helplessly, "It could be that you have some psychological pull or tether. I mean, Klaus has some weird obsession with you and I have never been very good at justifying my actions when it comes to you but I am definitely, heck, I don't even know the right word."

Appalled she gaped at him, "Are you trying to say that you have feelings for me because of some magical crap that's screwed with your brain?"

"What? No! Of course not. I'm in love with you and I love you; that is genuine and true. My feelings for you are all because of the amazing woman you are. What I mean is before I knew you, really knew you, I had this desire to... not kill you? At least that's what it was at first. Then I had this desire to know you and then for more. But, typically, when I meet someone who offers to let me kill them, I want to kill them. And I _never_ want to get to know someone. Maybe you attract vampires like that," he explained, slightly flustered.

"That's just ridiculous. Klaus is obsessed with me because he wants to use me and you're not as heartless as you think. Otherwise, I don't have vampires _attracted_ to me," decided Addie. Not liking the conversation, she changed it. "How do you still have the white oak stake? I thought you said Klaus caught on fire."

"He did," Damon growled, resisting the urge to tug at his freshly styled hair in frustration. "I pulled the stake out of him before it could go up in flames to. I figured we might need it on one of the other Originals at some point. Worse case scenario, or at least I thought at the time, was that Klaus would stop burning and I would have to stake him again and I would lose the stake, but he kept burning."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" she asked, trying to sound merely curious rather than accusatory.

"Honestly?" he muttered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Of course."

"I haven't thought about it since we talked after you woke up. I realized I was never going to be able to use it on Klaus. Rebekah and Elijah haven't been an issue. I haven't had any reason to think about it," he admitted.

Addie's eyes narrowed suspiciously but she knew he was telling the truth. "Why does Elena know about it?"

He shrugged innocently. "I told Stefan about it right after I got back to town. He must have told her."

"Do you know why Elena wants to kill Rebeka?"

"Mmm. Probably because her emotions are all over the place and she doesn't know what to do with herself. I doubt she actually has a solid reason."

"Do you have the stake safely hidden?"

Smirking, he teased, "You mean safer than under my mattress?"

"That's not funny," she said seriously. She still hadn't totally forgiven him for stealing the stake and trying to kill Klaus, despite his good intentions.

"Yes, it's in the safe in my closet."

"Good," she nodded. A crease of mild concern formed between her eyebrows as she wondered, "Were you really going to put on a strip tease in front of my sister?"

Taken by surprise, Damon's head fell back as he laughed, "That was hardly a strip tease."

"That was most _definitely_ a strip tease," insisted Addie, pouting slightly.

"Love, have you ever even seen a strip tease?"

Her lips pursed. "You were taking off your clothes _and_ you look like you do; that's automatic qualification for a strip tease."

Hie laughed again. "No, it's not. However, it the spirit of Material-less Monday, I would be willing to show you what an actual strip tease looks like.

"You're impossible," Addie grumbled, turning back to her computer and her research on vampires.

"Pretty much," Damon agreed. Standing, he whipped off the towel and casually tossed it over Addie's computer.

"Excuse you!" she exclaimed, balling up the damp cloth and and throwing it at his back as he pulled on a pair of boxers. "I'm trying to work over here."

Putting away the clothes Elena had strewn on the floor, he asked, "Working on what? And where did you get that laptop?"

"Klaus told me something about what I might be," she said uncertainly, hoping he ignored her not answering the latter question.

Sharply he demanded, "When did you talk to Klaus?"

Addie rolled her eyes in exasperation; that was why she hadn't want to deal with the laptop issue. "When I went off with him before the accident. I asked what was his purpose with me, what was so special about me, why he wanted me, you know, the typical things we've been wondering. He said he would reveal it in time but a hint was Greek and Roman mythology."

Damon scoffed as he pulled on a pair of jeans, "How is that even a hint? Do you know how much mythology is out there? Where do you even start?"

"Well, I'm starting with searching vampires and Greek mythology," she sighed heavily. "A lot of Roman mythology is pulled from Greek mythology and if he said both, it was likely in Greek mythology and then adapted to fit Roman ideology. And we know that whatever it is about me has something to do with vampires. The fact that we have a vampire hunter saying I attract vampires further confirms this. Whatever it is about me is likely in some tale about someone close to a vampire or a vampire-like creature."

"Sounds reasonable enough," Damon said, donning a black t-shirt. "Are you having any luck?"

"Hold on," Addie mumbled as she continued to skim the rest of _The Vampire Origin Story._

" _After a number of years, Ambrogio's immortality allowed him to stay young, but Selene continued to age as a mortal. She finally fell ill and was on her deathbed. Ambrogio was distraught, knowing that he would not join Selene in the afterlife because his soul still resided in Hades. At night, he went into the woods and found a white swan swimming alone in a small lake. He killed the swan and offered it to Artemis, begging for her to make Selene immortal so they could stay together forever._

Artemis appeared to him. Thankful for his years of dedication and worship, she made him one last deal. Artemis told Ambrogio that he could touch Selene just once - to drink her blood. Doing so would kill her mortal body, but from then on, her blood mixed with his could create eternal life for any who drink of it. If he did this, Artemis would see to it that they stayed together forever.

Ambrogio wanted to refuse, but after telling Selene what happened, Selene begged him to do it. After much convincing, he bit her neck and took her blood into his body. As he set her limp body down, Selene began to radiate with light, and raise up to the sky. Ambrogio watched as Selene's glowing spirit lifted to meet Artemis at the moon. When she arrived, the moon lit up with a brilliant light.

Selene became the goddess of moonlight, and every night she would reach down with her rays of light to the earth and finally touch her beloved Ambrogio as well as all of their children - the newly created vampires who carried the blood of Ambrogio and Selene, together."

She definitely wasn't a Selene-type character. She wasn't immortal. She wasn't a moon goddess. Most importantly, her blood did not turn people into vampires.

"No, not really," Addie scowled in annoyance.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. We also have some books in the library that were written in that era; they are mostly epic poems and plays," mused Damon.

Moodily she grumbled, "And they are also written in Ancient Greek."

"Yeah," he acknowledge uncomfortably; he had forgotten how testy Addie could get about the fact that her school didn't teach a dead language. "I can read them, though. I mean, you don't actually expect me to let you sort through all of Greek and Roman mythology yourself, do you?"

"You'd do that?" she said softly with a small, sheepish smile.

"Of course. It's important to you to find out what makes you different so that makes it important to me," he grinned, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Addie placed a hand on his face and pulled him in for a proper kiss. "You're, like, kind of amazing, you know that, right?"

"Well, I mean, my motives aren't entirely selfless," he smirked. "I'd love to find out why the Original Bastard is obsessed with my girlfriend."

"And you're impossible," she repeated with a giggle, pushing him away. She should have known his obsession with Klaus played a factor.

* * *

"Keep it up, buddy, and we'll be scraping you off the ceiling," Damon warned as Connor Jordan tugged at the arrows embedded in his back.

After receiving help from Meredith Fell, Damon took the claymore bombs from Connor's trailer. Upon Meredith's agreement he had advised Jeremy to tell the hunter that Meredith had a deal with a vampire, who she exchanged blood. As Damon expected, the hunter decided to head to the hospital. Intending to keep his promise about being less reckless with his life, Damon had called Tyler for backup in his confrontation with the hunter. However, it was Klaus who answer and invited himself along on the mission.

"You two are going to kill me anyway," the hunter spat from his position kneeling on the ground.

"Well, let's not be too hasty," Klaus said with false diplomacy. "I feel like we're just getting to know each other."

"Let's start with the basics. Where are you from? What do you know?" Damon wanted to ask about Addie but he felt like if Connor knew about his close relationship with her, it would only put her in greater danger. Instead he thought back to the letter Pastor Young had left for his daughter that he had found in Connor's trailer. He pulled the stolen note from his pocket and passed it to Klaus. "Maybe you can cue me in on this _greater evil_ because I've fought this guy," he pointed to Klaus, "and there's nothing more evil than that."

The hybrid grinned in amusement. "Yeah, truth be told, I'm as evil as it gets."

"I'm not telling you anything. And if you think if you kill me it's gonna be over, there's another waiting to take my place," sneered the hunter.

"See, this is what I like to hear," Damon told Klaus with mild amusement. "Vague threats, ominous prophecies, disappearing tattoos."

Connor looked at them, seemingly surprised that they knew about his tattoo. Klaus smirk fell as he looked down at the man in consideration.

"What do you mean _tattoos_?"

"Don't bother; you can't see the damn thing," Damon muttered to Klaus.

Klaus bent at the waist and stuck his face right in the hunter's. Intrigued, he whispered, "There's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?"

Connor made a surprise attack with a stake he had pulled from his waistband. Klaus easily dodged him, catching his wrist.

"Nice try but I'm faster than your average vampire," he boasted before twisting the man's arm and ripping the stake from his hand. Examining the wood, he recognized the the asterisk-like mark carved into it. Unsettled, he whispered to himself, "You're one of the Five."

"The what?" said Damon curiously.

"I'm faster than the average hunter," taunted Connor.

Spying his hand on the string that connected the bomb and the arrow, Damon flashed out of the room, the explosion going off directly behind him. The force was so powerful and close if sent him sprawling to the ground, face first.

* * *

Addie glared at Damon's door as it shook on its hinges. It had to be Stefan or Elena pounding on the door like a barbarian. She hadn't heard them come back from Rebekah's party but she had been very absorbed in trying to figure out what the citation "Suid. s. V." meant as it had been next to a passage linking mythological creatures to vampires.

" _The Lamiae and Mormolyceia, who assumed the form of handsome women for the purpose of attracting young men, and then sucked their blood like vampyrs and ate their flesh, were reckoned among the Empusae" (Philostr Vit. Apoll. iv. 25; Suid. s. v.)._

Addie had already found the first ancient text and it pretty much agreed with what she already knew.

" _But Apollonius insisted and would not let her off, and then she admitted that she was a vampire, and was fattening up Menippus with pleasures before devouring his body, for it was her habit to feed upon young and beautiful bodies, because their blood is pure and strong"_ _(_ _Philostr Vit. Apoll. iv. 25)._

When Damon had first tried to explain the appeal of her blood he had said that vampires liked sweet blood. The healthier someone was, the sweeter their blood was; it made sense that younger people would generally be healthier. He then explained that vampires had blood sweeter than humans as they never fell ill. Addie's blood, however, was this sweetest he had ever smelt or tasted.

The knocking on the door continued. Grumbling under her breath, Addie moved the computer aside. Clearly her telepathic message for the knocker to go away wasn't being received.

"What?" she hissed, slightly surprised to find a frazzled Stefan as opposed to Elena on the other side.

"Your sister's poisoned with werewolf venom by the hunter," he informed her frantically. "And Klaus isn't answering for me."

Addie tilted her head up and groaned in exasperation. Wasn't one of the perks of Elena being dead was that Addie wasn't going to have to worry about her dying? It wasn't like she was Damon and threw herself at danger. "Alright, well, if she's got werewolf venom in her system, Klaus is the only one who can help her," she sighed.

"I know. You're the only one Klaus might listen to," insisted Stefan, trying to shove a phone into her hand.

She gave him a look of disapproval, obviously expecting more from him. Slowly she said, "If Klaus isn't taking your calls, what makes you think he's going to take a call from me when it's still _your name_ that shows up on the caller ID?"

Stefan paused, realizing why she wasn't taking the phone. It was a good thing someone was thing rational in the face of death. Rolling her eyes Addie walked back over to her bed and grabbed her cell phone. She went to her recent call history and found the desired contact.

It took three rings before Klaus answered. "The lovely Addison! What have I possibly done to warrant such a special gift?"

"This isn't exactly a social call. Thank you for the laptop and headphones, though." Her eyes flashed towards Stefan; there was a chance he wouldn't tell Damon or assume she already had.

"Do you like them?" Klaus asked, his voice slightly lacking his usual bravado.

"Yes, they're excellent," she reassured him.

"Good," he said, the self satisfaction obvious in his tone. "If this isn't social, this must be business. What can I do for you?"

"There's a hunter in town-"

"I am aware of the hunter situation."

Who had informed _Klaus?_

"The hunter somehow managed to poison my sister with werewolf venom," said Addie, unable to hide her anxiety. Her fingers raked through her hair.

Klaus made a noise of disapproval. "She's barely been a vampire for over a week and she's already managed to get herself killed? That's probably a new record."

"I think Vickie only lasted, like, two days," Addie mused.

"Who?"

"No one. The reason I'm calling, obviously, is that I'm hoping you can bail her out. You know this doesn't have to be a guaranteed death sentence."

There was a long moment of silence, as if he was weighing the pros and cons. "I suppose it doesn't have to be but less vampires tend to die when fewer people know about us. Your sister has already outed herself in her very short time as a vampire."

Addie picked at invisible lint on the bed, wondering what she would have to give up to get him to agree. She knew she'd pay whatever the price. Technically dead or not, Elena was still her sister and she had given up her life so Addie could live. "We are working on the hunter situation so that more people don't find out. And Elena's new at this. She needs some time to adjust. For the most part she's doing really well. This was just…. Well, even you weren't perfect when you first changed, according to Rebekah. You guys didn't know how to control the blood lust. You had a chance to work it out. Why shouldn't Elena get one?"

"I mean, I could do it but I actually have quite a busy day planned. It's just not worth the effort," stated Klaus.

"What would make it worth the effort? What would make it worth your time?"

His answer was immediate. "A taste of your blood."

Addie's brows knitted together in confusion. "You know you can't drink my blood."

"Ah, well, then it won't hurt for you to humor me, then," he replied nonchalantly.

"Why do you want to drink my blood?" she asked suspiciously.

"Do you want me to save your sister?" he countered quickly.

Through gritted teeth she hissed, "Yes."

"Do we have a deal?"

"Fine. When can you get here?"

"I'll be over shortly."

Addie looked down at the phone as Klaus ended the call without saying goodbye, again. "Rude," she muttered to herself. She looked over at Stefan who stood in the doorway, his shoulders hunched and hands shoved nervously in his pockets. Walking towards him she said, "He'll be over soon. Where's Elena?"

"Upstairs," he answered.

Addie went up to Stefan's room and gently knocked on the open door. She could see Elena lying in the bed. Elena watched Addie with perplexity as she sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

"Why am I think about you, Damon?" she said in a weak voice.

"Damon?" Addie echoed in concern.

When Damon had been dying of werewolf venom he had hallucinated Elena was Katherine. Elena was hallucinating that she was Damon. There was an unpleasant knotting in the pit of her stomach even though she knew Elena couldn't control what she hallucinated.

"You're going to be fine," said Addie, not sure if she was trying to reassure herself or her pale sister.

It felt like much longer than twenty minutes before Stefan said with relief, "You came."

"Yes, Addie and I made a deal," Klaus said, his stormy, steely blue eyes piercing her own. "And for future reference, Stefan, one voicemail is just as effective as nine."

"You weren't answering," Stefan pointed out.

Klaus shrugged dismissively, "I was busy."

"You answered for Addie."

Looking over his shoulder he smirked wickedly at Stefan and said silkily, "She's far more interesting."

"Can we just get this over with?" Addie complained impatiently. Standing up and out of Klaus's way she gestured to Elena. "My sister isn't going to magically heal herself."

As if on cue Elena moaned in discomfort.

Taking up Addie's spot Klaus muttered to Elena, "You're so lucky Addison is so fascinating." Klaus bit his wrist and placed it to Elena's mouth. As he felt her begin to drink he coaxed, "Yes, there we go."

Repulsed by the sight Addie headed downstairs. She waited in the entryway for Klaus, he came down a few minutes later. Quietly she said, "Thank you for healing her."

"Yes, well, a deal is a deal," he said in the same soft tone. He stepped closer to her and brushed the dark red hair away from her neck, his cool fingers brushing the delicate skin.

Addie shivered and smacked his hand away. Fiercely she said, "I agreed to let you drink my blood; I never said you could drink from my neck, though."

"Can't blame a bloke for trying," he smiled charismatic. He gently took her by the wrist and brushed his thumb over the light blue veins against honey colored skin. "I suppose here will do."

His eyes caught Addie's as he raised the tender skin to his lips. Quickly she diverted her gaze. It made her feel _filthy_ and like she was betraying Damon. She had been livid when she found out he had given his blood to Elena. Damon wasn't going to be any happier about this situation. The sooner Klaus choked on her blood the sooner this would be over with.

There was a sharp flare of pain just for a second followed by a numbness caused by venom he secreted. Anxiously she waited for him to start coughing and spluttering as his throat swelled shut. He swallowed. Addie could feel the blood begin to flow out of her wrist faster. Again his Adam's apple bobbed. She tried to pull her wrist away but he held onto it tighter.

Horrified, she shrieked, "Klaus, stop! That's enough."

"What's going on?" demanded Elena, halfway down the stairs.

"A little experiment," the hybrid grinned at her, showing off his bloody teeth. "She really does taste as delicious as she smells.'

"H-h-how can you do that?" Addie stammered, pulling her sleeve down to blotted at the bleeding puncture marks.

"Well, I'll tell you this," he taunted, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "You don't have to worry about me ripping into your chest anymore. You see, when you crashed you still had some of my blood in your system from when I healed you the night before. I'm sure Damon's told you that it wouldn't make sense for ordinary vampire blood to have saved you. But _my_ blood is Original hybrid blood; it can stop a vampire from dying from a werewolf bite. It's the most powerful blood out there. It's the only thing that could have allowed you to survive over fifteen minutes without oxygen without any brain damage. _My_ blood is what saved you from transitioning to a vampire on Damon's blood. Just as he could drink from you after saving you from almost dying over and over, I can drink from you after saving you from actually dying."

Disturbed by the sight of her sister so blanched and visibly shaking, Elena stormed down the stairs. "Out," she growled at Klaus, throwing open the front door. "Get out."

"Gladly," he nodded at her. He gave her sister a malicious, knowing smirk. "I got what I came for. Have a good day, Addison. I'll be seeing you soon."

"Addie! What the hell were you thinking?" Elena exclaimed after closing the door behind the hybrid.

Having come down the stairs during the exchange Stefan interject, "That was the deal that she made with him. He would only heal you if she let him taste her blood."

Elena looked between her boyfriend and sister incredulously before pulling her sister into a tight hug. Reproachfully she reprimanded, "Don't you ever do that again. Don't you ever risk your life like that again. It's my job to protect you."

Still in a state of shock Addie mumbled, "I didn't think he could actually drink from me. No vampire can except Damon." She hadn't known she was risking her life. Even if she had, she still would have done it because it was her job to protect Elena, too.

* * *

The lines of text blurred as Addie stared blankly down at her copy of Shakespeare's _King Lear_. Nothing was making sense as she mindlessly flipped the pages. At least when she took her exam on it tomorrow she would have some idea of the answers since she had already read the play four times for fun.

She couldn't believe it was Klaus blood that had saved her. She couldn't believe that he could drink her blood now.

 _I'm not sure if I need to repeat the same process with you to use you for my purposes," Klaus explained._

Whatever Klaus wanted her for, he hadn't know if he needed to repeat the process that had allowed her to build up a resistance to compulsion and allowed Damon to drink her blood. If he had planned on taking the time to do that, he didn't need to anymore. He could get her for whatever he wanted at any time.

Addie heard a thud from downstairs. Frowning, she went down to investigate. Elena had called Matt over so she could feed off of him, still feeling weak from her battle with the vampire venom. Hopefully that wasn't the sound of a dead body hitting the floor. She was surprised when she heard growling from the kitchen and Damon's stern voice.

"Stop! Stop."

Peering from the bottom of the stairs Addie could see the dark veins under Elena's eyes return to normal as she looked at Matt, who was white and terrified.

Starting to cry Elena's voice broke, "Oh my God. Matt, I'm sorry. I'm so - I'm so sorry. I didn't - I didn't mean to."

Determination set on his face Damon walked towards the boy and looked him in the eyes. "It's ok. Forget what just happened. You came over, she fed a little bit, and you left. Now go home."

Obediently, Matt turned and walked away, heading for Addie. Thankfully Damon turned his attention back to Elena; she wanted to see how this unfolded when he thought she wasn't watching.

"What have I done?" Elena whispered miserably.

"Nothing you should be ashamed of," Damon comforted her softly. "You are a _vampire_ now. You just have to learn the right way to be one. And I'm going to teach you."

When Damon pushed a strand of hair out of Elena's face and behind her ear tenderly, just like he did all too many times to Addie, it caused a sharp pain in her chest. She didn't like him touching her sister like that.

Elena nodded hesitantly, "Ok."

"Ok," Damon agreed. "Right now I have to go check on your sister though."

In order to avoid being caught spying, Addie scurried up the stair and into her room. She barely had time to close the door and drop into her desk chair before Damon was knocking.

"Come in," she said, opening _King Lear_ to a random page.

"Hey," he greeted. He took the book from her and set it on the desk. Taking her hands, he pulled her until she was standing right in front of him. Delicately he cupped her face and leaned in for a tender kiss. Addie turned her head at the last minute so he caught her cheek. Damon sighed, "You know that was nothing with Elena."

"I don't know what you're talking about," lied Addie.

Damon had to resist rolling his sky blue eyes. "I could smell your blood of which, where are you hurt?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to discuss that right now."

"At least let me heal you."

Addie eyed him uncertainly. "The last time I had vampire blood in my system, I was lucky not to get turned into a vampire."

"True," Damon admitted; he couldn't deny having the same concerns. "But I can tell that you're not hurt that badly; you wouldn't need a lot of blood. And you're home, safe with me for the rest of the night. The blood would be out of your system before I let you out of my sight."

The numbing effect had worn off and Klaus bite _did_ sting. Addie bit at her lip and tugged at her hair uncertainly as she drawled, "I don't know."

Damon frowned as her sleeved slipped up and he saw white gauze around her wrist. Immediately suspicious he challenged, "How do you manage to bloody up your wrist?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" she bit back, crossing her arms defensively in front of her. He had, of course, jumped to the right conclusion. "For all you know I fell down at practice. That rubber track can create some nasty rug burn."

"Yeah, except you ditched practice," he rebutted. He held out his hand expectantly. "Let me see."

Addie sighed dramatically as she dropped her wrist into his hand, knowing the truth was unavoidable. He carefully lifted the medical tape and peeled back the dressing. His lips pressed into two angry white lines.

"Did Elena do this?" demanded Damon. He _knew_ the first thing he should have done when Elena changed was shove a syringe of Addie's blood down her sister's throat; then she's never be tempted to hurt her.

"No," she said quietly, pulling her hand back and covering the puncture marks again. Unable to meet his angry gaze she stared as her feet as she explained her deal with Klaus. Surprisingly Damon didn't interrupt her. Even when she was finished he simply sat on the edge of her bed staring at his hands. Growing uncomfortable in the silence Addie cleared her throat, "Aren't you going to say something."

There were plenty things he could say. She might have thought she had been safe making such a deal but she should have known that Klaus was up to something. It wouldn't have mattered, though; she would have traded her own life if it meant saving Elena. But she didn't see how it was hypocritical that she would be pissed at him if he traded his life for hers. And _Klaus_ had drank her blood; that made him feel like snapping someone's neck. He was supposed to be the only one who could drink Addie's blood; that was their thing. _She_ had gotten onto him for giving his blood to Elena. She had to know how much it stung him. But what killed him was to know that it was Klaus's blood that had saved Addie's life in the accident. Things had been so much easier when he could chalk it up to a fluke of nature or a happen chance because of what made Addie different. Addie would think she owed Klaus some kind of life debt. It didn't matter that the only reason his blood was in her system was because he plunged his hand into her chest.

Finally he looked up at he blankly and said monotonously, "What do you want me to say?"

"Get mad, get angry. Yell and scream," she suggested. Anything was better than his brooding silence.

Frowning contemplatively he shook his head. He definitely felt those things but he wasn't going to show it. It was petty but he was going to give her that satisfaction. "No," he replied flatly. "It won't change anything."

Addie scoffed and threw her hands up in exasperation, "Since when have you let that stopped you from being irrational?"

He cocked his head at her quizzically. "You want me to get angry and yet you think I'd be irrational to do so?"

Addie stuck her hands in her back pockets and pursed her lips as she realized he caught her fallacy. It made sense for him to be angry. It didn't make sense that she was angry at him for stopping Elena before she killed Matt.

Addie Gilbert was a complete mystery or completely transparent; thankfully she became more transparent the more time Damon spent with her. He leaned back on his hands, realizing, "You want me to be mad."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't _not_ say it."

She rolled her eyes and deflected, "Elena hallucinated you when she was poisoned. Why would she do that?"

"No clue," he replied.

Her eyes cast away from him. Something felt off about his answer. "You must have some idea. You hallucinated Katherine and 1864."

"The venom, it screws with your memories and emotions. If you add in the fact that Elena is dealing with the craze of being a new vampire, there's no telling what caused her to hallucinate me," he shrugged.

Addie tried to stifle her disgruntled sound of frustration. "How long does Elena get the excuse of being a new vampire?" she demanded shortly.

"Until she learns how to control it."

"Which you're going to help her do," Addie mumbled, not caring if she seemed like a petulant child as she flung herself on the bed.

Damon sighed, running his fingers through his hair. There were times Addie drove him to his wits end in attempt to understand her. "Addie, _you_ were the one that came to me and asked for help protecting your sister and your family. Ever since then that's all I've ever done. W-"

"Is that what you were doing when you let Bonnie stop Jeremy's heart to desiccate Klaus?" she interrupted curtly.

"No," he admitted easily, "I was protecting you. I will always protect you first. But why does it bother you so much that I am trying to protect your sister from herself? I would be doing the exact same thing for you."

Addie tucked a pillow between her arm and head as she studied him. She had wondered but she had never had the nerve to ask. "Is that it, then? You wish I had become a vampire?"

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you guys so much for all your comments. They really keep me motivated to keep writing this and remind me about it when I forget. You guys are amazing.**

 **And, I'm not adding in all these mythological stories for no reason. They are all relevant to what Klaus' wants with Addie. You just have to know what clues to look for. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

"But why does it bother you so much that I am trying to protect your sister from herself?" Damon asked, baffled. "I would be doing the exact same thing for you."

Addie tucked a pillow between her arm and head as she studied him, She had wondered but she had never had the nerve to ask. "Is that it, then? You wish I had become a vampire?"

"What?" he gaped, completely thrown off guard. "How could you even think that?"

"I -" her voice caught in her throat as her eyes began to burn. Sitting up she shook her head and mentally slapped herself. She was being stupid and she would _not_ cry. Softly she said, "You should go; I'm still really behind on homework."

"No," he objected. He wasn't so blind that he couldn't see she was upset. His fingers reached for a lock of hair that fell in her eye but she flinched away from his touch. She didn't want him touching her just like he had stroked Elena's hair. Perplexed he murmured gently, "Ads, what did I - what's wrong? Talk to me."

"It's nothing, Damon," Addie snapped as she dropped into her desk chair. She picked up her copy of _King Lear_ and flipped to a random page. With her face tucked behind the book she repeated, "You should go."

The tension radiating off her was obvious in her still posture. Creases formed in Damon's forehead as he tried to figure out a logical argument against whatever her sudden issue was.

"I'd rather not leave with you mad with me. The last time I did, you nearly died," he pointed out quietly. "Plus, you should still let me heal where Klaus bit you."

Addie mindlessly flipped a page as she chewed at her lip. Eventually she sighed, "I'm not mad at you."

It was the truth; she wasn't mad at him. She was only disappointed in herself. Their agreement was that they would stay together for 15 years. Damon had never promised her eternity. Even if she never wanted to turn into a vampire, it had been stupid of her to think that Damon might want that.

"Fine. You're not mad," conceded Damon. "You can't say you're not upset, though."

Addie lowered the book just enough to give him a piercing look. "I'm stressed. I missed a week of school and have a lot to catch up on. And, you know, Klaus can drink my blood now, so that's probably not a good thing. I'd really just like to do my homework and go to bed."

He didn't doubt that she was stressed but he wasn't sure that was all that was bothering her. At the mention of Klaus Damon's lips pinched into a thin line. The situation with him was definitely nothing good.

"Let me heal you and then I'll leave you alone," Damon bargained.

Addie tapped the book nervously against her knee as she studied Damon critically. Uneasily she asked, "Are you sure it will be out of my system by morning?"

"It should be gone in two, three hours tops."

* * *

"You're leaving," Elena asked as Damon descended the stairs.

"No," he muttered moodily, dropping onto the couch next to her. "I'm giving your sister some space."

"By sulking in her living room?" teased Elena. "You two really have issues with the definition of _space_."

Sharply he retorted, "I'm not sulking. And I'm staying here because she has my blood in her system. The last time I left her alone with vampire blood in her we got _really_ lucky she didn't go into transition. I'm not taking that risk again."

"I could protect her, too, you know. I have the same vampire powers as you. You don't have to stay here like her guard dog," she insisted.

Damon rolled his eyes. "No offense but there is no way I'm trusting _you_ to protect _her_."

"I died for my sister!" Elena reminded him in a hiss.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah but that doesn't mean you don't regret it or want revenge for it or blame her for driving the car off the road. You might not feel any of that right now but your emotions are all over the place and could change in a heartbeat."

"I would do anything and everything to protect Addie," she declared. Damon only picked at invisible lint on his jeans. Grabbing his hand, Elena gave it a gentle squeeze. "But you already know that. It's not me that you don't trust to protect her; you don't trust anyone to protect her."

Damon shook his head. How could he possibly trust anyone? Addie was almost killed by his best friend's psycho alterego. Then Klaus had ripped into her chest and almost killed her, twice. Elena and Addie had got into a wreck and that had almost killed her. Those were just the times she had almost died in the past three weeks.

He hadn't been there to protect her against Alaric but he killed his best friend to keep his girlfriend safe in the future. He wasn't there to stop Klaus the first time but he had come to her rescue the second time. _Damon_ had been the one to figure out how to desiccate Klaus to protect Addie. And he had tried to kill him to further ensure her safety. Elena might have been willing to die to save Addie but she wasn't strong enough or smart enough to protect her from Klaus.

"Has Addie seemed a little… off since the accident?" Damon wondered. Perhaps it was all in his imagination.

"Off?"

"More moody, I guess."

Elena snorted, "It's Addie. Moody is kind of her thing."

"Yeah but-"

"Honestly, Damon, I don't really know. I've been gone half the time and my sister has kind of avoided me since i've been back. I mean, from what Jeremy's said, she's been more reserved and you know she spent a week out of school. I think she's just in shock from a near death experience," she surmised.

Damon supposed that was possible but he had specifically meant that Addie had seemed more jealous of her sister. He couldn't imagine why.

"That was pretty scary with Matt, tonight," murmured Elena, tracing random patterns on his palm. "I fed on him too much. If you hadn't stepped in I would have killed him."

"It's just a matter of learning to control the bloodlust. Like I said, I'll help you with that."

* * *

Addie sat in the study of the boarding house, working on her paper for US History. It was weird to know that Alaric would never be her teacher again. Her eyes strayed to the black case carefully laid along the couch. _Weird_ was a rather relative term as she was working next to a mass of weapons Damon had collected. He had been particularly excited to show her the grenade launcher he had confiscated from the late hunter.

"So what is all of this?" Stefan asked holding up a stake with an elaborate carving.

Addie raised her eyebrows at him in mild amusement; he couldn't possibly believe she understood Damon's madness.

Entering the room Damon explained, "Personal items that I snaked from the vampire hunter's RV. May he rest in peace. I'm searching for a supernatural handbook." He shifted the box from his shoulder next to Addie's laptop on the table.

Damon had become convinced that instead of searching through all of Greek and Roman mythology, there was a shortcut to figuring out what Klaus wanted with Addie. Connor Jordan had been a special hunter. Klaus had identified Jeremy as a potential hunter. He had also stated that Addie was special because of what her brother was. It was possible that Connor knew what Klaus wanted with Addie.

Skeptically Stefan asked, "And you know for a fact that he was supernatural?"

"Definitely wasn't natural. The guy magically appeared just as someone bluws up the entire Founders Council. He's covered in a tattoo that only Jeremy and Addie Gilbert - of all the people in the world - seem to be able to see. Klaus mentioned something about him being one of The Five. Then he kamikazes himself with explosives. Sound natural to you?" Damon quipped back readily as he unpacked a Bunsen burner.

Addie pushed the burner and other hodgepodge junk he had pulled out of the box away from her. He was crowding her thinking space. She knew Connor Jordan was supernatural but it was always fun playing the devil's advocate and pushing Damon's buttons. Reasonably she pointed out, "Considering all the vampires and hybrids were outed to the town, it wouldn't exactly be surprising if someone from the council contacted an outside hunter to bring in the big guns, so to speak. It is _highly_ possible that Jeremy and I hallucinated the tattoo. I mean, I'm definitely not the sanest person and insanity is genetic. Klaus could have just been screwing with you because he's just a dick. And considering you and Klaus were probably going to torture the him, blowing himself up probably seemed like the better option. It's entirely possible he was natural."

Damon scowled at her. "Aren't you supposed to be doing homework you should have finished last night?"

Addie stuck her tongue out and flashed him a cheeky grin before turning back to her laptop.

"What's The Five?"

"I'm hoping that's in the first chapter of the handbook." Damon halted in opening a box to answer his ringing phone. "Liz Forbes, my favorite sheriff!... What? That's...concerning. Keep me posted." Frowning, Damon tucked his phone in his back pocket.

Addie and Stefan both looked at him curiously. Finally his brother asked, "What? You're not gonna tell me?"

"Can't tell you," Damon shrugged nonchalantly. "We're in a fight."

"You're in a fight. I'm not in a fight. I'm over it; I've been over it," Stefan remarked coolly.

Damon raised a challenging eyebrow, "You're not still mad about Elena and me?"

"What happened between Elena and you?" Addie demanded icily.

"He let her feed on him."

Addie's deep blue eyes narrowed furiously. She _knew_ she should have been more pissed off at him about that. But she couldn't argue about it anymore considering she had let Klaus drink her blood.

"I'm always gonna be mad at you but we're not in a fight," informed Stefan.

Nodding slowly Damon decided, "Very well, then. They didn't find any remains at the explosion site in the hospital."

A crease formed between Addie's eyebrows in confusion, "So, Connor is still out there."

"Apparently so," Damon grimaced, tossing the empty box to ground with a little more force than was necessary. Turning to Stefan he directed, "I'm gonna need you to get on this today. I have to take Elena to college."

The keys on Addie's laptop clanked loudly as her lips pressed into a thin line. She could have gone without the reminder that her boyfriend and her sister were crashing Bonnie's trip up to Whitmore with the specific purpose of eating people.

"I'm sorry; you have to do what, exactly?" Stefan asked incredulously.

Damon sighed dramatically, "I'm teaching her how to feed. She needs to learn how to snatch, eat, erase now more than ever." Stefan opened his mouth in protest but Damon quickly cut him off. "Ah, ah, we're not in a fight, remember?"

Broodingly, Stefan left the room.

"Why are you so upset?" muttered Damon to Addie as he pulled a journal off the table. "We agreed I was going last night."

"No, you stated Elena and you were tagging along with Bonnie and you didn't think it was a good idea to for me to go. We didn't agree to anything. Once again, you made a decision for me," she grumbled over her furious typing.

"Because we're gonna be _vampires_ and sucking down innocent people's blood. I know you don't necessarily approve of that. The last thing Elena needs right now is someone being judgemental while trying to learn how to control the bloodlust. You could tip her off and she could end up killing someone," he pointed out sensibly. As long as he kept appealing to the rational part of Addie, it was likely he could juggle her emotions and training Elena.

Addie ran her fingers through her hair as she shut down the laptop. She definitely didn't approve but she couldn't really argue with him. Elena _had_ nearly killed Matt the other night. And since animals and blood bags weren't an option, she needed to learn how to feed without killing anyone.

"I have to get to practice. Don't do anything stupid, please," she sighed wearily, packing up.

"I won't," he promised, holding up three fingers in a salute, "Boy Scout's honor."

Addie snorted, "I highly doubt you would have ever lived up to the expectations of the Boy Scouts' honor code. But you could promise to be on your best behavior."

Noticing the slight slump of her shoulders as she headed out of the study, Damon flashed in front of her. Her cerulean eyes went wide in surprise and she immediately began to open her mouth in protest; she hated when he used his vampire skills against her.

He cut her off before she could start, his lips firmly against hers. After a brief moment of shock, Addie began to kiss him back, her eyes closing. His mouth was soft and warm. His lips brushed hers gently, sending shivers through her. He tasted like toothpaste and coffee. She raised her arms to wind them around his neck, to slide her fingers under his dark hair, to lightly touch the bare skin at the nape of his neck. Eventually, reluctantly, he pulled away, leaving her breathless.

"How's that for a promise?" he murmured silky. Her lips pursed thoughtfully. He had a feeling Addie was more bothered that his day involved Elena rather than what they would actually be doing.

"I'm going to be late," she said softly, breaking away from his hold.

"Ads," Damon sighed as he gripped her hand tightly. At a lost for words he gave her a somber, apologetic look. He didn't enjoy doing things that made her uncomfortable.

Addie felt a twinge of guilt. She knew Damon didn't fancy the idea of being Elena's teacher but Stefan wasn't a viable option and Elena had insisted that she couldn't learn from Caroline.

"You're just going to teach Elena how to stop sucking down someone's blood before she rips their head off; it's no big deal," she stated matter of factly.

"It's no big deal," he reassured her.

"Actually, it's quite nauseating," Addie revised, nodding to herself.

Slowly pulling her back into his arms Damon agreed, "Completely repulsive."

"And there is absolutely no reason for me to feel jealous," she mumbled, burying her face into his chest.

Damon squeezed her tighter in silent comfort. There was a part of Addie that was eternally envious of her older sister but she had always had too much pride to outright admit her insecurity. He never expected Addie to finally admit her jealousy over a vampire issue, though.

"It doesn't mean anything," Damon vowed softly. Placing a gentle kiss on her temple he said, "I love you, Ads. You are the only girl I have ever truly loved."

As cliche as it sounded, her heart stopped and butterflies fluttered in her stomach each time he said those three words. Addie wondered when it would get old; she hated being a cliche.

"Hey!" exclaimed Damon when Addie suddenly jabbed her finger into his side. "Ow!"

" _That_ did not hurt you," she snickered, pushing him away slightly.

"It could have if I was human. And here I was thinking we were having a nice, intimate moment," he pouted dramatically.

Addie rolled her eyes. "Moments are so overrated. Seriously, I have to go."

"Have a good day," he called after her as she quickly left the room. He picked up the journal from the table as he heard her return similar sentiments and began to flip through it.

"Hey, Damon?" came a soft, shy voice from the doorway a few moments later. He hummed in acknowledgement. "I love you, too."

* * *

Addie glared down at her phone as it rang. She had two missed calls during track practice and he had called again while she had been showering afterwards.

Knowing he wasn't going to stop she snapped into the received, "What do you want, Niklaus?"

"And good morning to you, too, Addison!" the hybrid answered jovially.

"I repeat: what do you want?" she glowered through gritted teeth. "I have to get to class soon."

Coolly Klaus said, "I was hoping we could talk about your newfound situation, preferably without your irrational bodyguard. Say tomorrow afternoon?"

Taking her backpack out of her gym locker, she slammed the door closed, hoping the loud sound would irritate Klaus. Spending time alone with him was definitely not something she wanted to do, especially since he now had her ready for whatever he wanted. But Klaus was persistent and he would get his way. He'd probably be a lot nicer about it if she went along with his game.

"Tomorrow is Saturday; it might be hard for me to slip away from Damon. But he's at Whitmore today. Would today work?" she offered.

"Ahh, yes. Your boyfriend went on a field trip to teach the girl who broke his heart how to be his vampire protege. I'm sure that will turn out well," Klaus taunted reflectively.

She resisted the urge to kick at one of the benches in the locker room. He always managed to make the situation between Elena and Damon sound so much worse than it actually was. Through gritted teeth she mumbled, "Does today work or not?"

"I suppose I can rearrange my schedule to make room for someone so charming," he replied brightly.

"I'll come by after practice."

Klaus tsked disapprovingly. "You run before school. You run after school. You ever think you do too much running?"

It was true that Addie ran a lot. From a young age she had learned that she was fast, fast enough to physically outrun her problems. Anytime her parents got into a fight or Elena went into a primadonna, diva mode or Jeremy picked on her Addie dashed away from the situation until she felt calmer and balanced. Ever since the tragic accident that had killed her parents, there was always some pain, grief, fear or turmoil that kept propelling her forward.

"Never. There's no such thing," she replied with a slight smile.

"If you insist, Addison."

The line went dead, causing Addie to roll her eyes in annoyance. She wondered if Klaus would ever learn the simple etiquette of saying goodbye.

* * *

The forest green door slammed shut with a loud bang as Addie got out of the Jeep. She had driven around for an extra twenty minutes minutes trying to get lose Stefan before giving up and heading to Klaus'.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the vampire asked sharply, catching up to her in a few long strides. His car beeped twice as he remotely locked it.

Walking up the long driveway she bitterly retorted, "If I wanted you to know I wouldn't have kept taking all those turns and driving twenty miles over the speed limit, now would?"

"Addie, you can't just go walking into Klaus' house!"

"I can assure you I can; I've done it on numerous occasions. My legs typically go in a forwards motion, I knock on the door, he answers. We really almost have it down to an art-form," she replied back smartly.

"Does _Damon_ know what you're doing?" Stefan challenged, an underlying threat in his voice.

Halting in her tracks she looked at him incredulously. " _A:_ Do you seriously think I would be stupid enough to tell him. He'd probably concoct another suicide mission. _B:_ If you actually think I'm afraid of you telling him, you are really mistaken. I don't need Damon's permission to do anything, despite what he may think. _C:_ We tend to do things the other person doesn't care for. He goes on adventures with my sister. I have little chats with Klaus. It's just how our relationship functions."

Stefan shook his head disapprovingly, "Things are different, Addie. Klaus can drink your blood now, whatever that means. I can't let you go in there; Damon would kill me."

"I thought you guys were _not fighting_ ," she mocked, using air quotes around the last two words. "You're never going to stop being mad at him for letting Elena feed on him. You could just even things out and let him be eternally mad at you for allowing me to flirt with danger."

"I could but Damon wouldn't be the only one mad at me for all eternity; your sister would be to. And, I would actually be quite upset if something happened to you."

Addie sighed impatiently, "Didn't Damon tell you to look into the The Five?"

"Indeed. And what better way than to interrogate the guy who mentioned them?" Stefan countered.

"Well, you'll have to get in line. I actually have an appointment with Klaus," Addie said pointedly, continuing up to the mansion.

After three knocks Klaus answered. "Addison," his grin faltered, "and Stefan. I thought we agreed to a private discussion."

"Don't blame me. He followed me here and came on his own volition," she grumbled defensively, slipping past the hybrid and into the house.

Klaus ran a long, thin finger over his lips thoughtfully before deciding to admit Stefan. "Very well. I suppose I can use assistance from both of you."

* * *

"Now, I've agreed to have a one-on-one conversation with Addison so why don't we get why you are intruding out of the way," Klaus demanded of Stefan once they were settled in the sitting room.

Stefan's fingers tapped restlessly against the armrest of the chair as he studied Klaus. "Connor Jordan's remains weren't found at the explosion site."

"That is an anomaly," mused Klaus with mild surprise.

"It's really not," Addie sighed in exasperation. "The only person who could have moved fast enough to move out of that explosion was you. _You_ took the hunter with you. You have him alive, don't you? Or you tortured him until he spilled all his secrets and killed him in some particularly gruesome manner."

He gave her flattering smile. "So insightful. For now he remains alive. He has yet to tell me anything. Fortunately, I know plenty."

"Who is this guy? What's the Five?" inquired Stefan.

"So many questions," Klaus taunted.

Addie shrugged nonchalantly. "It's a good thing we have nothing to do today except get answers out of you."

"Fine. One of you might actually be useful in persuading my sister to cooperate." Klaus stared out a large bay window as he recalled memories from long ago. "The Brotherhood of the Five was a group of highly skilled vampire hunters forged by witches in approximately 1100. We crossed paths with them in Italy approximately four years later. My siblings and I had followed the Normans as they conquered the South, feeding, turning people as we went. But with the bloodlust came exposure. My naive sister had an indiscretion with one of them."

"So these hunters have been around for nine hundred years?" Addie asked in mild disbelief.

Klaus nodded. "Apparently. Though, our friend in my… playroom is the first I've seen since then. Kind of makes you wonder what they've been up to all these years."

That was exactly what she had been wondering.

"And Rebekah had a thing with one of them?" Stefan posed, eager to get back to the story.

"Oh, she didn't just have a thing. She fell in love with the baddest of them all. He told her all his secrets. Which I will gladly share with the both of you provided you do one thing for me," bargained Klaus.

Addie sighed; he was always working some angle. "And what's that?"

"Get Rebekah over here. She's being stubborn and hateful. I-"

"You mean she's acting like you?" Addie interrupted.

Klaus briefly glowered at her before continuing. "I need to make peace with her. I want her to give me some very important information about the hunter, which she won't do unless she believes we've made up."

"What's in it for us?"

"Just get her here and I'll tell you."

Addie frowned in deliberation. Rebekah had strung up Damon in vervain soaked bear chains; Addie wasn't sure she wanted to make nice with her.

"Don't worry," Klaus said quickly, seeing the look on her face. "I wasn't meaning you."

Stefan shook his head. "I am not leaving her here alone with you."

"You sound as ridiculous as Damon," Addie grumbled indignantly. It was annoying everyone seemed to think she was incapable of defending herself.

"Perhaps not as bad. But, I assure you, Stefan, trust me when I say this: that hunter holds the answer to both of your prays," enticed the hybrid. Sensing the young man's doubt he smirked, "If I was going to kill Addison I would have done it a long time ago. I can assure you I have no intention of hurting her."

* * *

"You finally have your audience of one," Addie commented as she followed Klaus into a state of the art kitchen, sparkling with stainless steel appliances.

"Indeed, I do," he said as he opened the small refrigerator specifically for wine and grabbed a bottle. There was nothing scheming or disarming in the smile he gave her.

She leaned against the counter as he pulled two glasses off the rack above the counter. "Your audience eagerly awaits."

"Patience," Klaus teased. "You don't want to rush this."

The bottle gave a soft _pop_ as he uncorked it. Dark, dense ruby liquid was poured liberally into both glasses.

"Walk and talk or sit and converse?" he asked, delicately passing a glass by the stem.

Moving helped keep her agitation and anxiety at bay. "Walking, I suppose."

Addie sniffed at the wine; the smell of black truffles, red fruits and cedar was extremely powerful. She had never tried wine. For some reason Damon never seemed to drink it so she hadn't either. It left a sweet, velvety texture in her mouth and was very different from the more earthy and dry whiskies she was used to.

"It's a 1959 Château Lafite Rothschild. I should have let it aerated for a while but it's still a good wine," Klaus commented, watching her take tentative tastes from the corner of his eye.

Klaus held open the door to the backyard and allowed Addie to head into the lush garden. He offered her his arm in a gentlemanly manner.

"What's going on?" Addie sighed, tucking her free hand into his elbow.

"Rebekah destroyed the last bags I had of Elena's blood," he answered, focusing intently on swirling the crimson wine around the glass.

Realizing the implications Addie breathed out slowly, "And now that she's a vampire you can't make anymore hybrids."

"It's not that simple; it's never been that simple."

When it was clear he wasn't going to elaborate she urged, "How can you make more?"

"For the longest time I thought there was only one possible option, should anything happen to Elena. Now, I have the opportunity to run experiments," he said cryptically.

A chill ran down down Addie's spine. Her voice cracked as she trembled, "You're going to experiment on me?"

He shook his head and look at her quizzically, "No. Haven't I always only worked towards gaining your trust?"

"That doesn't mean you're above experimenting on me."

That was true. He had every intention of using her as his test subject until the situation had dramatically changed. He wondered just how much had changed.

"I noticed the other day you took your nose ring and tongue ring out," he commented innocently.

That was definitely not a subtle way to change the conversation.

"Actually, the hospital took them out after the accident to do an MRI on my head when they were checking for brain death. By the time I woke up the hole in my tongue closed. My nose is still pierced but, well, the only reason I pierced my nose was because Katherine made me," Addie explained as they looped around the large grounds.

"Why would Katherine make you do that?"

"You are aware of her whole plan to get me to distract Damon with an end result of everyone being blind to her snooping around for the moonstone and planning to hand Tyler and my sister over to you?"

He nodded.

"In her opinion I looked too much like my sister, whom Damon was infatuated with at the time. Dying my hair purple, piercing my nose, a complete wardrobe change was all part of her plan to get Damon to notice _me_ rather than Elena," Addie shrugged.

"So, you can thank Katherine for your relationship," he teased.

What Katherine had done had certainly brought her and Damon closer but there had been a preexisting chemistry. They had even kissed before Katherine got involved. Of course, Damon had then turned her down immediately after because it was _inappropriate_ and said he was settling for Elena.

"I don't think I'd ever do that. Did I mention when she got out of the tomb she showed up naked in his room and tried to steal him from me?" laughed Addie.

Klaus snorted, "No but I believe it. Still, Damon wanted Elena first. It must be bothering you that he's out teaching her how to feed."

Addie took a sip of her wine, reminding herself that he was intentionally baiting her. "How do you know that?"

"I have my sources."

"It doesn't mean anything."

"Maybe it does; maybe it does. The blood, the feed…. It's easy to get caught up in it. Old feelings, lust, desire, they're so easily reignited." he replied airily.

She trusted Damon when he said nothing. It didn't matter what Klaus said.

Sharply Addie demanded, "Why do you always try to plant doubts in my relationship with Damon? You always suggest there is something between him and Elena. Or you always try and find some other way to come between us."

Klaus led Addie around to the front of the house, considering his answer. It wasn't that he wanted her for himself; at least he didn't think so. He wanted her to be available when he wanted to use her, something which Damon would not approve of but Addie was strong enough to make her own choices. Their relationship, though it had it's bumps and glitches, seemed to never truly be shaken and seemed to come so naturally for them, no matter what horrible thing Damon did. Why couldn't it be like that for him? No one seemed to have a never ending well of forgiveness for him like Addie did for Damon.

"Do you really believe you two are going to last? That he's actually right for you?" he scoffed.

"I know we're not going to last but he's right for me right now. Besides, that's really none of your business," she replied curtly, pulling her hand from the crook of his arm. "Surely my relationship with Damon and trying to cause problems is not what you wanted to talk about."

It wasn't but he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to put cracks in the foundation of their relationship. Klaus simply didn't want them to be together. It was no more complicated than that.

"You never thanked me for saving you," he commented, leading her back into the house.

Addie set her glass of wine down on table just inside the door. Her head tilted dramatically and eyes bulged as she stared at him in disbelief. "Let me get this straight; you want me to apologize because you ripped into me chest, causing me to almost bleed out and then shoved your blood in my mouth."

"I did call Damon to give him the opportunity to save you with his blood. It's not my fault he didn't answer," Klaus pointed out innocently. "Without my blood in you would have turned into a vampire."

"I would have had to make that choice because, again, _you_ shoved your hand into my chest less than 24 hours after attacking me the first time," Addie exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"That was Damon's fault for attacking me. I warned him that if he came any closer I was going to rip your heart out. You should blame him for taking that risk," he counter logically.

Addie had already considered that but she was tired of being mad at Damon for every mistake he made. Besides, Damon had a point when he had said that if Klaus was actually willing to do that, he would have done it the night before. She believed Klaus had been bluffing just as much as Damon had.

There was a sign of mild amusement as he continued to look at her expectantly.

Her eyebrows raised in surprise and she balked, "You actually expect me to thank you?"

"It would be the polite thing to do."

"No! If there wasn't this whole bullshit feud between you and Damon and you would just leave me the hell alone, that accident never would have even happened. My sister never would have been turned into a vampire because of me. And everything wouldn't just… just _suck_!" Addie cried, surprised at the volume of her volume of her voice.

There was a slight glistening in her eyes. He could hear her breathing and heart rate become faster.

"I don't care what you have to say," she mumbled, trying to move past him. "I just want to leave."

It wasn't what he had intended to talk to her about but it was what she needed to hear. He placed a strong, firm hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"What if I told you everything could go back to the way it was?"

* * *

"The hunter Rebekah was in love with told us a little about the Brotherhood of the Five," Klaus commented as he stood at the easel in his gallery. Addie sat across from him in an overstuffed lounge chair but he didn't need a visual image; he had traced her from memory several times. "They were five men bound by the fire in the last breath of a dying witch to a single cause: the destruction of all vampires."

Addie rubbed at her temples wearily. This supernatural world made less sense the more time she spent in it. "Since when can witches breathe fire?"

"It gets stranger," he warned, looking up from his work to give her a mischievous grin. "They claimed to have the ultimate weapon which no vampire could survive."

"The white oak? Been there. Tried that," she yawned in an imitation of boredom. "That is not the answer to all my prayers."

"The hunter did not speak of the white oak stakes but he is where we learned of the daggers and ash."

"You mean you favorite toys to use on your siblings when they start to annoy you?" Addie remarked snidely. After a moment she considered, "Do you think it would work on my sister?"

"Because she annoys you?" Klaus teased.

Addie shrugged, "I wouldn't keep her boxed up for 900 years like you did to Finn. Maybe just a couple days when she becomes particularly bothersome."

"Or thinks it's ok to run off with your boyfriend?"

"There is nothing going on!"

He shook his head, turning back to his drawing. "No, the daggers would kill a regular vampire. However, Alexander, that was the hunter's name, he knew we were the Originals thanks to Rebekah. In one night he and his brethren put down all five of us."

"But I thought the daggers don't work on you because of your werewolf side," Addie said, puzzled.

Klaus smirked wickedly, "They don't. When I woke I slaughtered all of the five to protect my family."

"Ok, so if you killed them all, what about this ultimate weapon which no vampire could survive? Wouldn't that secret die with them? Or did they just happen to spill that on their death beds?"

"A little bit of both. He knew who we were because Rebekah made herself vulnerable to him. Haven't I always warned you that love makes you weak?"

Sighing, Addie rolled her eyes. Damon and Klaus both loved to hear themselves talk. "Can you just get to the point? How is this supposed to make everything in my life not suck?"

"Alexander told Rebekah there was a cure for vampirism," he said, focusing on perfectly capturing the slight pout that Addie's lips always settled in.

"There's no such thing," she declared.

"There is."

Her arms crossed defiantly as she challenged, "Then where is it?"

Klaus frowned as he selected a dark blue charcoal pencil to color in her eyes. "Unlike Connor, the first Five had tattoos that were visible to everyone. Alexander revealed that the tattoo was a map to the cure. When I eliminated the Brotherhood of the Five, the marks disappeared from their bodies. When Katherine turned herself into a vampire I remembered the cure. I tried to search for potential hunters, wondering if it was a genetics relations. For 900 years, there was not a whisper of another hunter until our friend showed up in town.

"I could never find anything rock solid to lead me to a hunter but I found information about what happened to the sisters of Alexander and those of the other original Five. They were involved in their own ritual with fire breathing witches. The legends of what happened to them were somewhat easier to uncover as I didn't cause a mass extinction. However, they quickly faded from history. The most recent re-occurrence I have heard of someone similar was of Madison Gilbert in 1864."

He noticed her pale as he switched to a deep red to color in her Mystic Falls Track & Field hoodie. "You know that name."

Madison Gilbert had been the ancestor Katherine had learned she could torture and heal over and over again until she was immune to all compulsion. Damon had admitted that he had partially joined the military to escape an arranged marriage that neither he nor Madison had wanted.

"Katherine taught her to resist compulsion," Addie mumbled. Suddenly feeling cold, her arms wrapped instinctively around herself.

"Yes, Katherine thought I might find that interesting when she was bargaining for her life. The truly fascinating part, though, was that Madison Gilbert was set to marry Damon Salvatore until he enlisted in the military. It was almost as if Madison was written out of history after that. Fortunately, Katherine kept up with her. Madison had an affair with George Lockwood upon his return from the war." Klaus stopped what he was doing and looked up in mock scandalization. "Can you believe that? With Damon's best friend!"

"There wasn't anything romantic between Damon and my namesake," Addie bristled. "Can you get to your point? Story time is becoming quite tedious."

"Fine. Madison ended up having George's child but the baby wasn't _normal_ ," he hinted suggestively. Klaus selected an emerald green and allowed her a few moments to figure out what he meant.

"George was a Lockwood; he would have had the werewolf gene. If he was in the Civil War, he undoubtedly killed someone. He was a werewolf," Addie reasoned under her breath. To Klaus she asked, "What do you mean the baby wasn't normal?"

"The baby only lived a couple of months," he answered cryptically. He wasn't going to give away the answer that easily. He had intended to when he had asked to talk to her but the timing wasn't right; he was too eager. "You see now why the cure is the answer to all your problems?"

Addie blinked slowly, trying to register the abrupt change in conversation. "If you use the cure on Elena you can go back to mass producing your hybrids."

"And you don't suffer the guilt of having ruined your sister's chance at a happy, fruitful, _normal_ life. Being a vampire will destroy Elena," Klaus said darkly. On a brighter note he added, "Plus, you get your boyfriend back and Stefan gets his girl back. It's a win all around."

"The tattoo is invisible to you."

"But it's not to you. Or your brother."

"Leave him out of this," Addie growled protectively.

Klaus inhaled through his teeth as if it pained him to say, "I would if I could. Unfortunately I've seen your drawing abilities. Your stick figures are very similar resemblance to a Picasso. I need a Da Vinci. No, I need someone who can craft even finer details. I need a Michelangelo. I need the skills of your brother. If, at some point I need someone to compose me a symphony, I'll ask for your help."

"Jeremy won't help you. I won't let him," she seethed protectively.

"That's the benefit of the council burning up all the vervain in this town when they tried to stop us. Jeremy won't have a choice."

"He wears a vervain bracelet," interjected Addie.

"Which is easily removable. And," Klaus pulled a small, circular object from his pocket and held it up for Addie to see, "I don't think you want to intervene considering he won't have his ring to save him if I decide to kill him."

Confidently she called his bluff, "You kill him and you won't have your artist. You want that cure too badly."

"You forgot about the experiments I told you I am running. If I have to kill Jeremy, I will. I warn you, if it comes to that, you will have much more to regret than his death," he threatened ominously.

"Who are you hurting? Who are you experimenting on?" she demanded.

He gave her a patronizing smile. "Don't bother yourself with that, Addison. You don't know them. Most importantly, you can't stop me. I know you. You don't have to act like you want to play the hero to strangers at your own peril because it's the _right_ thing to do. You're too selfish for that."

Standing up, Addie ran her hands over her face in a gesture that reminded her of Damon. It was true she was selfish; she didn't want to be a hero to anyone but her family and friends. It was all just an information overload.

"Why did you send Stefan to get Rebekah?" she uttered, feeling the beginnings of a headache.

"The map is only a map without the sword of one of the first Five to decipher it. Rebekah buried Alexander with his sword and I need to know where," he replied simply. He blew away stray dust on his finished drawing.

"Where is my brother?"

"I have him working on copying down the hunter's tattoo right now."

"Uh-uh. No interrupting the artist at work,"he protested, shaking a finger of denial in her face.

"Fine," Addie mumbled. Sometimes it was just easiest not to argue with Klaus.

Klaus checked his phone as it went off. Stefan was on his way back with Rebekah. Things would like go easier if the two girls didn't start a catfight in the middle of his epic plan.

"Addison," he said seriously, gently grabbing her face until she looked him in the eye. "No one must know about the cure, do you understand? Not Damon. Not Elena. Nobody. If this gets out, it could mean all our deaths. So, if you tell anyone, I'll erase each and every memory from the lot of you. Countries have gone to wars over less."

"Won't you have to tell Stefan? He won't work with you unless you do," Addie pointed out.

Klaus nodded reluctantly, "I will. It's just us three in this, Addison. Some secrets are stronger than family."

"Ok. I won't tell anyone," she agreed.

Reaching over to his easel Klaus carefully tore the drawing out of the sketchbook and passed it to Addie.

"That's just something for you to consider since you were growing bored with story time," he said mysteriously before slipping out of the room.

Addie opened the sketch and stared at in confusion. It was a perfect rendition of her sitting in the lounge chair in Klaus' gallery during their conversation, down to the way all her hair spilled over one shoulder and the hoodie she wore. Except there was one error; instead of a pair of legs she had a scaled, bright green tail stretched out in front of her. Just to make sure she wasn't going crazy she looked down at her jean clad legs and red converse; there was definitely an intentional flaw in the picture.

* * *

Addie chewed at her lips as she scrolled the Wikipedia page listing hybrid creatures in mythology. Unfortunately there were over 15 creatures listed as having a human torso and some kind of tail. Luckily she had eliminated nine as they were not creatures in Greek or Roman mythology.

So far the closest thing she had found was Lamia, who had a serpent's tail below the waist. Lamia was a mistress of Zeus, causing Zeus' wife to become jealous. In retaliation Hera killed all of Lamia's children and turned Lamia into a monster that hunted and devoured the children of others. Addie wasn't exactly sure how that connected to herself. Later accounts referred to many _lamiae_ monsters, a creature Addie had stumbled upon when researching vampires in Philostratus's _Life of Apollonius of Tyana._ These monsters were beautiful women who attracted men to feed on their flesh.

Was Klaus trying to tell her she was some kind of vampire and she didn't even know it?

A loud knock at her door startled her and she slammed the lid of the laptop close. Before going to open the door she made sure to hide Klaus' drawing under her pillow.

"Stefan," she said in surprise. "I don't think you've been to my room in… ever."

"I just got done having a wonderful evening with Klaus and Rebekah," he explained, giving her a knowing look.

Addie nodded and opened the door further as an invitation for him to come in. Concerned she quickly asked, "Jeremy?"

"Downstairs playing video games. He doesn't remember a thing," Stefan reassured her, taking a seat in her desk chair. "Addie, I have to ask; are you really on board with this?"

She looked at him in confusion as she crossed back to her bed. "What do you mean?"

"Klaus was serious when he said you can't tell Damon about the cure. Can you do that? Can you lie to him?" he said pointedly. It made no sense to beat around the bush.

Sighing, Addie ran her fingers through her hair. That had been a question she hadn't wanted to face. Shrugging she admitted, "I don't see why I should have to lie to him. If this fixes everything, why can't I tell him the truth?"

"Because as much as _Damon_ might want to fix things, he's still a vampire," Stefan said simply. He could see that Addie was still confused and continued, "I don't doubt my brother's love for you. Damon would move heaven and earth just to make you smile. He knows you feel awful about the accident and Damon, my brother, would do anything he can to fix that. But, deep down, Damon is still a vampire. The vampire in him will not want to turn Elena back."

Addie shook her head in lack of comprehension. "Why not? That doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe you should call Klaus," Stefan suggested uncomfortably. "He was actually the one who had to explain it to me. He was surprised when you didn't ask and thought it might mean you planned on telling Damon," he rambled.

"I've done enough talking to Klaus. Why would Damon be against turning Elena back?"

"He wouldn't; at least, he wouldn't think he was. His blood turned her, though. It's like… ingrained in vampire nature to protect your bloodline and carry it on."

"Damon wouldn't stop us from getting the cure," insisted Addie.

"Klaus thinks he might unintentionally sabotage us, which is something we can't afford. Addie, you know Elena needs this cure."

Addie dropped her head in her hands, "It sounds crazy."

Stefan laughed, "How much of this actually makes sense to you?"

"None of it," she admitted, joining in his laughter. It was all just so absurd.

* * *

The scalding water beat down Damon's bare skin from all directions as he tried to wash off the scent of cheap booze and cheap perfume. He had given up trying to wash away the shame and self-loathing thirty minutes into his boiling shower. Getting rid of those feelings was going to take a lot more than soap.

The day had been so much worse than he had anticipated. At the same time it had somehow been better. There was that brief time where he had just let all his cares and worries go and got lost in the crappy music, crappy beer, and frenzy of fresh blood. He had danced with girls, including Elena, getting high off blood and alcohol. And then the thrill of the feed wore off and the buzz of the alcohol faded and reality came crashing in.

The shower had turned cold by the time Damon came out of his thoughts and had the sense to get out. He wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed a smaller one for his hair. He rubbed the cloth against his dark locks until they were just slightly damp; he knew his hair would be a nightmare in the morning but he would deal with it then.

"I'm definitely dating the sexiest guy in the world," came a sweet, awestruck voice from his from.

"I knew you only wanted me for my body," Damon teased as he continued to dry his chest and back. He hadn't heard her come in. His stomached churned unnervingly; was this what it felt like to be nauseous? He could remember.

"I mean, that's like only 100% of the reason," Addie smirked at him as he entered the bedroom.

His mouth went dry as he took in her tight, bright red camisole and extremely short pajama bottoms. He could freely admit to himself that he found her irresistible dressed down in his boxers and shirts for almost entirely possessive reasons; Addie would probably object to that on feminist grounds. However, when she wore her own clothes and actually revealed her curves instead of hiding them… well, he could be revert to a guy with a very simple mind. Unfortunately, Addie probably wasn't going to want him to touch her after he told her about his night.

"Well, I am definitely dating the most beautiful woman ever," he said, licking his lips.

"For my body?" she quipped.

He shook his head. "No. There are about a million reasons I love you and why I consider you to be the most beautiful woman ever but your physical beauty is just a bonus."

"You know all the right things to say," Addie smiled, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Something didn't feel right.

"It's a little nippy. Should I start a fire?" Damon asked as he went into his top drawer.

Something was definitely up.

"You don't get cold," she pointed out slowly.

Pulling on a pair of dark green boxers he commented, "You do."

Suspicious she probed, "It's nearly one in the morning. Are we going to be up for a fire?"

"We, um, yeah," he sighed, tugging at his hair uncomfortable. Taking two tumblers out he asked, "Scotch, whiskey, or bourbon?"

Addie fidgeted with the blanket uncertainly. "Since when do you ask? You normally just do. Or pour."

"I just figured I would be more of a gentleman," he shrugged. "So, what will you have?"

"Whatever," she mumbled.

"Ads, come on," Damon said encouragingly. "I want to sit and have a drink with you and talk."

"Well, do you plan on telling me what's going on?" Addie confronted. "I know you're hiding something."

Addie thought he was ignoring her when he went about starting a roaring fire. The room glowed orange as he flicked off the overhead lights.

"You use your superpowers to figure that out?" he asked, pouring a liberal amount of amber liquid into the two tumblers.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "Sometimes I like to think I can read you well enough to tell when you're lying."

"I'm not lying. We don't lie to each other," he sighed, sitting at the foot of the bed. He passed a crystal glass to her. "I'm just working up the courage to tell you the truth."

There was a tightening in her chest as she saying she would not discuss the cure with Damon. That was lying by omission.

Silently she moved to sit next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Addie took a small sip of her drink and smiled at the caramel, burnt toffee, and not particularly amazing taste. Jack Daniels was the first alcohol she had really tried and was her favorite for that reason.

"You settled on bourbon," she said softly, anticipating his reaction.

"This disgusting swill is not bourbon. It's Tennessee whiskey," he corrected her quickly.

Addie snorted, "The definition of Tennessee whiskey is a straight bourbon made in Tennessee. Jack is bourbon."

Grinning slightly, Damon placed his hand on her head, pulling her against his shoulder again. "I'm not having this argument with you again, Love. The bottle says whiskey; it doesn't say bourbon."

"Fine," she pouted, glad the mood was a little lighter. "But just for the record, all bourbon is whiskey, hun."

It was a simple term of endearment but it settled like lead in stomach rather than making his heart race like it had the handful of other time she had used it. He didn't deserve it.

Sensing Damon tense again, Addie took Damon's had in hers, interlacing their fingers.

"Damon, you are my kryptonite. Forgiving you is… it's what I do. You don't have to be afraid to tell me something," she reassured him.

"There's going to come a day when you don't forgive me," he whispered. "What if that day is today?"

"You know the rules; I cannot forgive you if you cheat on me, abuse me, or drug me. Otherwise, I believe in working it out. Damon, you haven't screwed up that badly," Addie said certainly.

Damon tossed back the Jack, the cheap alcohol burning unlike his preferred drinks. He cleared his throat and murmured, "It's bad."

Her brows furrowed in mild-concern as he got up and put his empty glass on his dresser. "You went on a field trip to college. Unless you were snogging with sorority girls or my sister, I doubt it's that bad."

Addie wasn't going to be happy. The muscles in his back rippled as his hands ran through his hair.

"While I love the British slang you've picked up over the summer, I didn't snog anyone," he retorted, feeling slightly defensive. Though, she wasn't entirely wrong; he had crossed a line with Elena.

"So, we're fine then!" Addie encouraged, still sensing distress from Damon.

"Not quite. On the plus side, I didn't let your sister kill anyone tonight," he mumbled, gazing into the bright orange and red flames in the large fireplace.

Damon sounded so somber Addie wasn't sure she wanted to hear the rest. She took a bracing swig of alcohol for courage and asked, "On the down side?"

"There was this crazy, raving frat party with so many perfect victims. It turned into a feeding frenzy. The thrill of the hunt, the alcohol, the fresh blood; it all went to my head. I _reveled_ in it. Do you know what make me able to drink my fill and leave someone still breathing? I can _enjoy_ it. I can make it fun. I honestly believe the last person I didn't feed and kill on was Vicki Donovan," Damon admitted quietly, unable to face Addie. He knew she hated his vampire tendencies.

"Um… you killed Vicki," Addie reminded, making an effort to keep her tone neutral and non-judgmental.

"Yeah, but that was because I got bored. I didn't actually feed on her until I killed her. I didn't do that tonight, either. Elena and I just went from person to person snatching, eating, and erasing and we had a really good time," he said. The shame and guilt were consuming him.

Addie ran a finger around the rim around the rim of her glass slowly, contemplatively. Quiet but firmly she insisted, "If you guys had fun, what else happened, Damon? Elena was pretty emotional when she came home."

"Elena is a vampire now. She's a different person. We're a predatory species. She's like me. She even admitted that when I tell her what a vampire should be, deep down she believes me and thinks I'm right! But…"

"But she doesn't want to be like you," Addie finished, understanding exactly how her sister felt. It was why they had to find the cure for Elena.

"Right."

There was still a tightness in his shoulders and he had turned slightly away from the fire so that she could see his jaw was clenched.

"What are you so reluctant to tell me?" she whispered, anxiety mounting in her chest. "Did something happen?"

Damon gripped tightly at his hair and braced himself. "I might have crossed a line with Elena. We were high on blood, enjoying ourselves, forgetting about our problems, forgetting about why we were there and we danced."

Addie finished off the last of her drink and stared into her empty glass, reflecting on the information. Unsure she wanted to know the answer she whispered, "Did it mean anything? Was there anything _inappropriate_ about it?"

"The dancing? No. Addie, there's nothing between Elena and me. That message was so blatantly obvious tonight," he insisted.

He took her empty tumbler and set it down next to his on the dresser.

"So, what are you still not telling me?"

He sat down on the bed next to her, flopping onto his back. He threw an arm across his face to cover his shame. It was too hard to look her in the eye. It was such a selfish thing of him to want. He was an asshole for even telling her.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

Addie hummed in contemplation, "I don't think know. Besides, the fact that you don't want to tell me makes me want to know all the more."

"I came to the most horrifying realization tonight. I am the most selfish bastard on the planet," he mumbled.

She giggled as she traced a finger down his sternum, "That's what has you so upset? That you're selfish? I already knew that. If it makes you feel any better, so am I."

"Yeah, but, I always thought I could manage not to be selfish with you if it was in your best interest," he confessed shamefully. "I thought my love for you was greater than my love for myself."

Addie bit her lip as she stared down at him; she had come to believe that as well. Timidly she asked, "What made you change your mind?"

"When you asked me if I had wished that you had transitioned into a vampire, I was appalled and offended that you could even think that about me. I know how much you despise this lifestyle and I never wanted that for you. I never wanted you to have to choose between vampirism and death. I knew which you could pick and I wasn't ready to lose you," he professed, his voice growing softer. "But I could never ask you to change for me; I don't think I will ever forgive Stefan for doing that to me."

"And now?" Addie breathed deeply.

Sighing, Damon propped himself up on his elbows. She deserved him to look her in the eye. "I realized when I was out there tonight that I didn't want to be out with Elena. I want to be teaching _you_ how to feed. I wanted to be having that kind of fun and freedom with my Ads. It isn't Elena that I want around for eternity; it's you. I'm never going to be ready to let go of you. It was _you_ that I wish had transition into a vampire and that I was going through all of this with you. And that is the most selfish thing I have ever wanted because I -"

Addie buried her hand in the back of Damon's soft, black hair and pulled him in for a kiss. His lips were soft and he tasted like alcohol and toothpaste. When his cool hands nudged up her shirt to settle on her waist Addie shivered and felt her heartbeat quicken. His grip tighten when she caught his bottom lip between her teeth. There was a rumble in his chest as she bit gently at it. Satisfied, Addie took her hands off him and pulled away. Damon followed her, trying to continue the kiss. He was confused as to why she was kissing him but it was definitely better than the chilly response he had expected. Teasingly she let her lips brush his in a near kiss before moving out of his reach.

"Um, what was that for?"

Lightly pushing him onto his back, Addie curled up against his side as she remember a conversation from when they first started dating.

 _Damon dragged his hands over his face and kept them there, "I've been a vampire for over 145 years. Never aging, never changing. Frozen. Stuck in a life I will never finish. It sucks to feel everything so intently for so long. It's tiring."_

 _His hands trembled slightly as she rubbed at them and his forearms and trying to get him to uncover his face but he refused. Her words were cautious, "Damon, are you having a century and a half vampire life crisis?"_

 _"I don't know," he muttered. "I don't think such a thing exist."_

 _She hesitated, afraid of angering him, "An identity crisis?"_

 _"It's possible."_

 _Addie squeezed at his hands. Pressed hard to his face, they shook harder than before. "Tell me what's really wrong."_

 _He shrugged, his shoulders bumping into her knees. His voice cracked, "I miss it, Addie. I miss everything before this. I miss the pain being a ten instead of a one hundred. I miss not loving so hard; it brings nothing but trouble. I miss every day being a gift because I'm not going to live forever. I miss everything I did having meaning and purpose rather than just being aimless. I miss not always fighting this urge to kill someone. I miss the idea of home instead of having to move before anyone notices I'm not aging. I miss having a future full of endless possibilities, of a family, of a death at the end of a long life. I miss being human, Ads."_

It would be a lie if she said it hadn't occurred to her to use the cure on both Elena and Damon. The entire reason her relationship with Damon was on a time limit was because he was a vampire. She desperately wanted him to take the cure and have a long human life with him, with the possibility of a family if they wanted.

However, that was a conversation they had only had once and Damon never mentioned that he missed being human ever again.

She knew he loved being a vampire. He had just admitted to relishing in it. She also had a clear memory of him admitting to preferring being a vampire.

 _"I break up with you at 35, then it's two years finding a potential husband, two years dating, a year engagement and then pregnant at 40. I don't think biology is on my side with that," calculated Addie._

 _Damon groaned, "You don't believe in marriage! Why is there this magical husband involved now?"_

 _"Well, when a mommy and a daddy love ea-"_

 _"You don't need a husband to get pregnant. You don't even need a guy," he scowled._

 _Addie laughed, "Are you jealous?"_

 _Damon shrugged, "You've been jealous."_

 _"Yeah but you're jealous of a future guy who may or may not happen after we've broken up," she giggled._

 _"It not funny," he growled. "And it's not because he's your husband; I'll be jealous of any guy."_

 _Addie rolled her eyes, "What happened to parting mutually as friends?"_

 _"That doesn't mean I'm going to be over you," muttered Damon. He broke the silence before it got too awkward, "How long will biology give me? Since future you has gone crazy and wants two completely huge, life altering things that you detest the idea of now."_

 _She sighed impatiently, "I want to keep the option of kids open. I'm not going to raise a child without a father, Damon."_

 _He shuddered violently, a horrible image running through his mind. What the hell was wrong with him today?_

 _"What is your problem?" Addie demanded, her eyebrows furrowing._

 _Damon raised an eyebrow at her, "What? The idea of being a parent doesn't make you shudder in terror?"_

 _"Metaphorically, yes. Literally? No. I don't let myself think about it that long. It flashes so quickly through my brain that my nervous system doesn't get a chance to respond," she grinned cheekily._

 _He frowned at her, "And yet we are ending our relationship so you can possibly have them."_

 _"Future Addie might not find it so terrifying," she said, raising her shoulders helplessly._

 _"Fine. Future Addie will simply have to take Future Damon as a lover because the kids make her so stressed and her husband just doesn't know how to relax her," smirked Damon, wrapping an arm around her shoulders._

 _"No," she emphasized, "cheating is bad."_

 _"Fine! Divorce the husband; he's a workaholic and bad in bed, anyways," he grumbled._

 _She laughed, "Then it's back to being a single parent. Why did I marry him to begin with?"_

 _Damon sighed, resting his head on her shoulder, "Fine! Alright! Future Damon will step in and help with the kids if he gets to keep Future Addie as his lover."_

 _Addie laughed even harder, "Yeah, right. You're crazy if you think I'd let you around my children."_

 _"Why is that so crazy?" he asked defensively._

 _"Well, you are crazy and a bad influence. Besides, do you even have a paternal bone in your body?" snickered Addie, grabbing the hand in his lap._

 _He nodded against her shoulder, "I haven't thought about it since I was human but it's still in me. It's one of my ribs. There was a time when I was supposed to get married, inherit the family business, and pop out a few rugrats."_

 _Tracing random patterns on the palm of his hand, she whispered, "I didn't know. I'm sorry."_

 _"Don't be. It was a long time ago. I'd take this over being human any day," Damon said. It was only a partial lie._

Still, that didn't stop her from having the slightest bit of hope that he would want to be human again. Maybe he would want that mythical future with her.

"You're not mad at me?" Damon said hesitantly, wrapping his arm around her.

"Nope," Addie insisted, popping the _puh_ sound. "It's not that selfish that you want to be with me for eternity. I'm flattered."

"Yeah but that would mean you would have to become a vampire," he pointed out.

"But that's not what you want for me. You want _us_. I can't blame you for that when I want the exact same thing," she comforted, gently brushing hair out of his face.

A crease formed between his eyebrows as he studied her looking up at him innocently. Slowly he asked, "What do you mean?"

"This time limit thing on our relationship? It sucks. I'm never going to be ready to let go of you either. I love you; you're amazing. I would love to spend my life with you," Addie said wistfully. "The situation-"

"Just isn't right," Damon finished.

Addie slowly ran her hand over his strong shoulder and sculpted bicep, wondering, "You would really want to spend eternity with me? That's what you didn't want to tell me?"

"I didn't want to tell you that I wanted you to be a vampire. Of course I want to spend forever with you." Damon laid stroking the bare skin of her shoulder for several minutes, her silky hair tickling at his chest. "How was your day?"

Frowning, Addie moved to reach inside the nightstand on her side of her bed to pull out Klaus' sketch. "I did something you're going to be mad about, too."

Groaning, he sat up, "Did you put yourself in danger?"

"I went to visit Klaus."

"In other words, yes," he simmered bitterly. "Addie, you _can't_ do that anymore. We don't know what he wants with you now. We have no guarantee that he's not going to kill you."

"I know," Addie said playacting. "But I think I got a few more leads on what I might be or whatever he might want from me. He… I think he wants to keep me alive for something. Remember Madison Gilbert?"

"Girl I was gonna marry but then Katherine decided to torture, possibly out of jealousy? Yeah," he replied sarcastically. "That's pretty hard to forget."

"And you remember the part where Katherine made her immune to compulsion, like me?"

"Of course."

"Do you, um, do you ever know what happened to her?" she asked uncomfortably, fidgeting with the folded drawing.

Damon nodded solemnly and apologized, "Yes. Stefan killed her. I should have been there to protect her but I wasn't."

"It wasn't your job to protect my family. Do you know what happened to her before she was killed, though?"

"Why don't you tell me?" he prompted.

Addie shrugged innocently, "I want to see what you know."

"There was a bit of a scandal when Madison became pregnant out of wedlock. George Lockwood was the father but he was betrothed to a fell and a considered a war hero. Madison agreed to keep the identity of the father a secret. I only knew because George was a good friend of mine and confided in me," reminisced Damon.

"What happened to the baby?"

Damon shook his head uncertainly. "I don't really know. George said there was something wrong with him. He died after a few months."

"What was wrong? How'd he died?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know what was wrong. I never saw the baby and George didn't like to talk about him. His death was never explained to me. Why do you want to know?"

Addie explained to Damon how Klaus had brought up Madison and the connection to the sisters of the initial of the Brotherhood of the Five. She felt awful about leaving out the purpose of the Brotherhood and how they intended to wipe out vampirism with the cure but she couldn't risk telling him about it.

Klaus reclined against the headboard, digesting the information for several minutes after Addie finished. There had been no reason for Klaus to mention Madison's pregnancy unless it was relevant to something he wanted. Though, he couldn't imagine what that had to do with Addie.

"Klaus also made this drawing," she sighed, passing the picture to him. She watched the creases form in his forehead as he studied it. "I think it's me as Lamia, a monster who devoured the children of others or a _lamiae_ monster, a creature who attracted men to feed on their flesh."

"I don't you're a child-eater," Damon commented quietly, stroking his chin. "I mean, you consider call children parasites but I don't think you're going to suddenly start eating them. And, I know you like biting me but considering your strong opposition to the vampire lifestyle, I don't think you're any type of creature that feeds on flesh. Did Klaus say you were one of those things?"

"No," Addie huffed in frustration. "It's just a guess based on information I've come across."

His lips pressed into a thin line. He had an idea but it wasn't a good one. It would possibly explain everything but he would have to do further research. Elijah had told him Klaus had a painting of Addie with a tail before the accident but without the context of mythology and the mention of Madison, he hadn't been able to make anything of it.

"I think we could keep looking at other options," Damon muttered, folding the picture back up. "Do you mind if I hold onto this?"

"That's fine," she said quietly. "You're not going to have a bigger fit about me going to see Klaus?"

He scoffed, "Are you going to start listening to me or are you going to keep doing what you want?"

She hummed, pretending to think.

"Exactly," he snipped. "There would be no point. Besides, you're not having a fit about my sweaty, hot dance party with Elena when you could be."

Addie's lips puckered sourly. "Well, you didn't exactly describe it like that before."

"It didn't mean anything," he insisted, brushing her hair behind her ear. "The only thing wrong with it was that I wasn't with you."

"I'm tired," she muttered, pulling away from him and slipping under the silky black comforter.

Damon frowned as he noticed Addie positioned herself on the far side of the bed rather than the middle. He knew she would be upset with him, no matter what she said. He glanced at the dimming fire; it would go out on it's own within an hour or two. It was odd to lay alone on his side of the bed when he was used to falling asleep cuddled up with Addie.

After fifteen long minutes Addie could tell by Damon's light breathing he still hadn't fallen asleep. Into the darkness she wondered, "What would you be willing to give up if it meant we could spend the rest of our lives together?"

"Addie, I want to be with you forever but I would never sacrifice your happiness," he sighed dejectedly. He wanted nothing more to ask her to turn for him but he couldn't ask her to live a life she would hate.

She hadn't asked about forever. Addie's fingers toyed with her hair nervously. "Remember when you said you missed being human?"

"My existential crisis? Yes," he snorted.

"Do you still ever miss it?" she whispered, unable to stop thinking about the cure.

* * *

 **A/N: An update in TEN days? Why? Because you guys are so fan-freaking-tastic! I love getting reviews from you guys, discussing theories, and seeing the numbers of favorites/follow go up! Thank you guys so much!**

 **We are really narrowing it down to what is so special about Addie! Any ideas? Damon thinks he might know what "creature". Do you?**


	5. Chapter 5

_Previously:_

 _Addie's fingers toyed with her hair nervously. "Remember when you said you missed being human?"_

 _"My existential crisis? Yes," he snorted._

 _"Do you still ever miss it?" she whispered, unable to stop thinking about the Cure._

* * *

It was a nuisance and a waste of time for Damon to spend nearly a minute picking the lock on Addie's bedroom. She cited privacy reasons when he asked her why she kept both the main door to her room and the one that connected her bathroom to Elena's always locked but he was certain there had to be more to it.

 _Or possibly not_ , he considered upon successful entry. There had been a time when Addie had been quite the little sneak and read Elena's diary obsessively. Damon wouldn't put Elena above doing the same thing to her sister but Addie would never keep a diary. She had already given him a speech on how it was completely pointless, which he agreed with; though, he speculated her reasons had more to do with the act that she had trouble explaining her own feelings to herself and didn't want to spend that much time reflecting on them.

There was a slight disorder to Addie's room. Various colored Converse spilled out of the half-opened closet. Loose papers, notebooks, index cards, three books, two sets of headphones and silver laptop covered her simple desk. Damon couldn't resist making the bed. It annoyed the hell out of him that she never made the bed. She refused to do it on the grounds that she was only going to unmake it.

Other than the typical disorganization, there was nothing alarming about the room. Growing more concerned, he headed into the adjoining bathroom.

"Excuse me!" Elena exclaimed, jumping up from her window seat as Damon entered her room unannounced. "What are you doing?"

"Addie's been kidnapped," he declared certainly.

"Um, what?"

Damon ran his fingers through his hair, exhaling loudly. "We went to bed. I woke up and she was gone."

"That doesn't explain how you know she's been kidnapped," Elena pointed out bluntly.

"She's not at the boarding house. She's not here. She's not answering her phone or her texts," he snapped.

"So, because she's not where you expect her to be and she's not answering her phone, the logical conclusion is that she's been kidnapped?" Elena said slowly, realizing she sounded a lot like her sister.

Elena didn't understand. She didn't get that Klaus was probably going to start doing some really messed up shit to her sister.

"Her car is still at the house! How else do you explain her mysteriously disappearing?" he huffed in annoyance.

Steering Damon to sit on her bed, Elena said calmly, "Damon, you're overreacting."

"Am I?" he snapped.

"Yes," she said firmly, placing her hands on his shoulders and looking into his sky blue eyes. "I want you to take three deep breaths."

He scowled at her patronizing nature; it wasn't like he got irrationally upset like Addie and needed reminders on how to breathe. Still, he did as Elena said.

"Addie was just gone when you woke up? But her car wasn't?"

Damon nodded.

"She probably just took off for a morning run," suggested Elena.

"Then why isn't she answering her phone? Plus, she would have woken me up before leaving. Addie wouldn't just sneak out like that," he countered quickly.

Elena snorted, "Sneaking out is _exactly_ what Addie would do if she didn't want to confront a problem. It would also explain why she isn't answering her phone." Elena reached for her phone as she continued to talk. "You probably pissed her off and now she's avoiding you. I'll call her and you'll see that everything is fine."

Elena tried calling Addie three times in a row but each time the call ended up going to her voicemail, as Damon had expected.

"There's no point," Damon muttered as he watched her type out a text. "If she's dodging me, she's going to be avoiding you, too."

"Me? What did I do?" Elena asked, baffled.

"Oh, I don't know," he said, shrugging coolly. "Maybe the hot, sweaty dance party business?"

Gaping, Elena stammered, "Yo-you told her about that, about last night?"

"Like you didn't spill your guilty, little guts the minute I left," he spat back. Elena's lack of a response told him otherwise. Damon whistled lowly. "You didn't tell him, did you?"

"No, Damon. I didn't tell him that I got high on blood like some crackhead and then dirty danced with you," she hissed venomously. "Why the hell would you tell my sister that?!"

"Because we don't hide things from each other…. Could it be that Addie and I are actually in the more functional relationship?" Damon wondered aloud.

There was no way her emotional trainwreck of a little sister and _Damon Salvatore_ had a healthier relationship than she and Stefan.

Elena crossed her arms defensively. "You told her because it meant something to you and you felt guilty," sneered Elena.

That wasn't true. He had felt guilty but not because it had meant something. It had definitely not meant anything. He had felt guilty because he had fun with _Elena_ and he selfishly wished it was Addie he was with. It wasn't because he had anything akin to feelings for Elena.

"And you are very mistaken if you don't think my sister hides things from you. It's Addie; hiding things is second nature to her. Telling the truth that is a completely foreign concept," she continued curtly.

That, also, mostly wasn't true. Addie was usually pretty honest with him unless she thought she was protecting him. Just as he was about to retort, Elena's phone began to ring.

"What," he could overhear Addie panting from the other end of the line, "what... do you mean Jer-"

"Jeremy's fine," Elena reassured her sister.

"Then why the hell?" Addie snapped. She was too busy catching her breath to waste time with unneeded words. Elena knew what she was upset about.

"Well, Damon thought you were kidnapped because you weren't there when he woke up and you weren't answering his calls," her sister explained, looking at Damon superiorly. Elena knew she had been right. She and Addie might not be close but there were still sisters. "I told him you had probably just gone out for a run."

"So you decided to see if you were right by tell me Jer was in trouble!" Addie yelled. She held her hands above her head to make it easier as she took in deep gulps of air. The tree had all start to blend together after several hours of running. She probably should have taken a path but she didn't want to risk Damon finding her.

Elena hesitated slightly, "Well, I was right, wasn't I? I mean, you haven't been kidnapped and now he doesn't have to act like a freaked out spaz like you."

Rolling her eyes, Addie let the slight pass. Finally able to breathe again she spat, "Yes, you were right. I'm sure you'll enjoy informing Damon of that."

"He wants to talk to you," Elena informed her, eyeing Damon's outstretched hand wearily.

Addie kicked in frustration at a fallen tree branch. She just wasn't ready to face Damon after last night. "Look, um, tell him I'll talk to him later, ok? I've really been slacking off on my training lately and I just need a day of running," she said, hoping Elena heard the plea in her voice. Addie quickly pressed the button for the in-line microphone of her headphones, ending the call and resuming her music.

"Sorry," Elena apologized to Damon as she stuck her phone back into her pocket.

Damon dropped his head in his hands. He couldn't believe Addie was that made at him for dancing with Elena. At least, he thought that was what was bothering her. She said she hadn't been upset with him for wishing that it had been her, even if it meant shitty circumstances. Perhaps she was mad about all of it and that was why she had taken off.

"Hey," Ekena said, soft and reassuring. Her fingers were warm as they brushed the hair that curled at the base of his neck, gently toying with it. "It will be fine. You know she needs her space. Just let Addie have her day. You guys are practically attached at the hip."

Elena was right. Addie just needed to run off whatever was bothering her. He had hoped to keep her close after that drawing Klaus made of her but, even if he told her his fears, Addie would never be controlled like that.

"Don't touch my hair," he bit curtly, swatting her hand away.

Offended, Elena frowned at him in confusion as she pointed out, "Addie does."

Addie knew he didn't like his hair messed up once he got it perfectly styled; though he had bit of a hectic morning and hadn't styled it today. If they were going out in public, Addie respected the fact that he wanted his hair to look presentable. When they were alone all bets were off and she did whatever she wanted with his hair, usually leaving it standing in a million directions. Damon loved the feeling of her hands in his hair; it was relaxing and calming and seductive.

"Yeah, well, she's Addie," he said defensively.

"And she gets whatever she wants," Elena retorted.

"Are you jealous of her?" Damon scoffed in disbelief. Their competitiveness was ridiculous.

"Of course not."

"Well, my partner in crime is AWOL. My brother is missing. And we've got a killer vampire hunter on the loose. It's gonna be a _great_ day!" he quipped sarcastically.

Elena frowned at him disapprovingly. "You've got a killer vampire hunter on the loose and a missing brother and you choose to freak out about the fact that my sister wasn't taking your calls?"

Damon shrugged uncomfortably. "I mean, I was going to be more concerned about him after finding out Addie was ok. He's a big boy."

"And Addie is a big girl and _not_ the target of a vampire hunter. You didn't think to worry a little more about Stefan first?" she scolded.

Addie was a possible target for Klaus, who was much more dangerous than Connor, and she was merely mortal. Stefan was a little more durable. Yes; Addie was his primary concern. He never wanted to be put in a situation where he had to choose Stefan's life or Addie's. He had finally found a love stronger than what he felt for his brother. He knew Addie would always pick her family's lives over his but he was ok with that. No one had ever loved him the way Addie did. The way she made him feel made it ok that he wasn't her first priority.

"When he didn't answer his phone this morning I figured it wasn't a big deal and he was probably here," he admitted.

"Well, he's not here," Elena said. "We're the only ones home."

"Well, you should probably try calling your boyfriend, then. We've got a vampire hunter to take care of."

* * *

The earth was cool and firm under Addie. The grass was brittle and brown, having died in the cool November weather. Addie tucked her arms under her head as she stared up at the canopy of bare branches. Dead leaves covered the forest floor she lay on.

It had been before dawn when she had left for her run but it was now well into the middle of the afternoon. She hadn't been trying to avoid Damon; she just needed time to think.

 _****Last Night****_

 _Addie's fingers toyed with her hair nervously. "Remember when you said you missed being human?"_

" _My existential crisis? Yes," he snorted._

" _Do you still ever miss it?" she whispered, unable to stop thinking about the cure._

 _Damon thought over his words carefully; she would know if he lied to her. He loved the thrill of the hunt, the feed, and the kill. He loved his amplified senses. His amplified emotions could make things complicated, particularly with Addie. If he wasn't a vampire, was his love and protectiveness be less? He couldn't imagine that. He didn't want that._

" _Being a vampire is amazing but it is easy to let yourself disconnect from humanity, from all the parts of life that are hard and that hurt. When you do that, you turn into…_ I _turn into someone that isn't a very good person," explained Damon._

 _She felt a tiny bit of hope as she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "So, it's a struggle to be a vampire?"_

" _For some people, like Stefan, yeah."_

" _And for you?"_

 _It had never exactly been difficult for him. He had his first several decades where he hadn't known how to properly enjoy it but that hadn't made it hard. The worse part had been the loneliness waiting for Katherine. It had been a complete breeze after he shut off his humanity and had only been a party after that; a quest for the never ending high. It had hurt like hell when he had found out Katherine had betrayed him but then he found Addie. Addie kept everything so_ real.

" _It's pretty easy for me but that's because I have you. You keep me connected to humanity and reality," he smiled in the dark, reaching out for her hand._

" _Would you ever want to go back to being human?" she wondered, finally voicing her real hope._

" _That's not an option," Damon answered simply._

" _If it was?"_

" _But it's not."_

" _Let's pretend it was."_

 _Damon's free hand tugged at his hair uncomfortably. "Why do we have to pretend it is?"_

" _It's just a question," Addie said innocently. "If you were human it… things didn't necessarily have to change," she trailed off quietly._

 _He licked his lip uncertainly. Their relationship wouldn't have to necessarily end because he wouldn't inevitably push her into changing, simultaneously pushing her away. Because he would be human and able to offer her the one thing he never as a vampire: a family. He didn't want that commitment or burden. His future had not involved plans for children since he discovered the truth about Katherine. He loved his carefree lifestyle. But could he give it all up and settle down once and for all for Addie? Kids? Aging? Being human?_

" _It doesn't matter, love," Damon said, his tone tender but final. "It would never happen so there is no point in discussing hypotheticals."_

" _We discuss philosophical issues and theories of ethics; we discuss hypotheticals all the time. Why can't we discuss this?" she pushed, despite sensing an uneasiness in him._

 _This time things were different. It wasn't a hypothetical. There was a chance for Damon to become human. A chance for Addie to have everything she ever water. But she had to know if he wanted it._

" _Because there is no point in getting your hopes up over something that's never going to happen," he answered a bit more shortly than intended._

" _So, if you could be human, would you be human?"_

 _Slowly Damon emphasized, "It is impossible."_

 _Addie couldn't help the hopeful fluttering in her chest as she grinned, "That's not what I asked."_

" _I'm not discussing this."_

 _Her lips pursed as she pressed, "Why not?"_

 _Damon wanted to spend his life with Addie. He just didn't know if he wanted to spend a_ human _life with her. He didn't want to live on a time limit. They were already on a limit, though. Her 30th birthday would come and he would lose Addie forever. To be human…._

" _Because you don't want to know the answer, Ads," he murmured, reaching out to brush her cheek._

 _If he told her "no" and she got the wrong message but he told her "yes" and she would forever long for something she could never had, just how he longed for eternity with her. Not only would both answers leave her upset, she'd be upset with him for lying. The truth was that he didn't know. Not knowing, not being certain of what he wanted with her wasn't something she wanted to hear, either. There was no answer she would like._

" _Fine," Addie whispered, swatting away his hand. He could have just said he didn't want to be human._

 _Curling up on her side of the bed, she faced away from Damon. It was hard not to feel crushed and disappointed. She knew Damon loved being a vampire. There would be no reason for him to choose a restrained mortal life over immortality. He didn't have to play by anyone's rules as a vampire. In fact, he made the rules._

" _Addie, come here," Damon sighed apologetically. It didn't feel right to go to bed without his arms around her._

" _Not tonight, Damon," Addie mumbled, trying to hide the catch in her voice. "Between Klaus and your adventure with Elena it's been a long night and I just want to sleep." She knew it was a low blow to bring up Elena but she didn't want him to guess at what was really bothering her._

The ringing of her cellphone cut through the melodic chirping of birds. Glancing at the caller ID, Addie debated silencing it and going back to her solitude but she knew it would just go off again. Klaus was a persistent bastard.

"What?" she whined into the speaker upon answering.

"Where are you?" he came his clipped answer.

Scowling Addie huffed, "Why is everyone so damn obsessed with my whereabouts today?"

Klaus' chuckle was soft and deep, "I guess you haven't heard the news, then."

Her body tensed in alarm, "What news?"

"Well, one of my idiot hybrids let the hunter escape and he happens to be armed with werewolf venom. That poses to be a very unfortunate situation for the vampires of Mystic Falls as I happen to be out of town at the moment," he informed her matter-of-factly.

"Where are you?" she asked in alarm. What if they needed his blood?

"Ugh! Why is everyone so obsessed about my whereabouts?" Klaus mimicked.

"Well," she started, copying his previous tone, "we care about your whereabouts because we need your blood in case someone is poisoned by werewolf venom."

"You are such a smart ass, Addison."

Hearing the smile on his face Addie scoffed, "And you're a pain in the ass. Seriously, where are you? That guy already poisoned my sister once. We really might need your blood."

"I'm in Europe. Stefan got Rebekah to tell where she buried her hunter boyfriend with his magical sword. Unfortunately, nine hundred years have passed and I'm on a bit of an scavenger hunt," explained Klaus.

"And by which you mean you've compelled a bunch of people to do your dirty work," she muttered bitterly. She wanted to go back to Europe and visit old sites.

"Of course. That's one of the perks of being a vampire."

Picking up a stray twig, Addie twirled it between her fingers as she contemplated, "When will you be back? One of the few perks of you being you is that you can cure a werewolf bite."

"Your friends will just have to be smart enough not to get themselves killed when they recapture my hunter."

"Recapture him?" she balked in confusion. "Can't they just kill him? That sounds _a lot_ safer."

"No, no, no, no. Connor Jordan must be taken alive," Klaus insisted.

Addie groaned disapprovingly, "No, I don't think so. You already got my brother to draw his tattoo, which is the map we need to find the cure. And you're getting the sword to decode the map. All is good; all is grand. Connor Jordan is a liability."

"I'm oddly proud to hear you advocating murder as a means to solving a problem; I feel like we've made a lot of progress from you being an annoying attempt at a conscious. How-"

"I'm not advocating murder," Addie interjected defensively. "I want to do whatever it takes to keep my family safe." And she had never tried be a conscious to Klaus; he was ruthless and didn't care about others. People like that didn't have a conscious.

Klaus continued, ignoring the interruption, "However, it turns out Connor's Hunter mark isn't complete."

"What?" Addie asked. It felt like a hole had opened in her stomach.

"The mark, the map to the cure, isn't finished."

Rubbing at her eyes tiredly she surmised, "And keeping him alive is how we finish the map."

"Yes. The mark grows with each vampire he kills. We could speed up the process and have him kill Stefan and Damon," Klaus suggested wryly.

Her claw clenched in annoyance. "I thought you were working _with_ Stefan."

"Damn, you're right," he admitted. "I actually have Stefan tasked with recapturing Connor at the moment as Damon is intent on killing him."

Once again it was Damon pitted against Stefan. Things would be so much easier if she could just tell him about the cure.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Addie offered.

Klaus repeated his initial question, "Where are you?"

"I went out for a run outside of town. Why does it matter?"

"I want to make sure you're safe."

She snorted humorlessly, "Considering I'm not a vampire, I don't think I'm that high on the vampire hunter's hit list."

"No but you would be a prime target for leverage, which is why Damon and I have both tried to keep you off his radar."

Addie sat up so quickly she was briefly dizzy. His words were just a reminder that he wanted her for something.

"What's going on Klaus? What happened?" she worried.

"Stay out of town for the day, alright?" Klaus instructed.

"No."

His voice was icy as he threatened, "Let me put it this way: _please_ stay out of town.. Stefan or Damon will let you know when it's safe."

Before she could retort the line went dead. Addie glared at her phone. One day she was going to get the chance to hang up on him first. She hated taking orders from Klaus but he had said please; that wasn't a word often found in his vocabulary. It made her feel as if it was almost obligatory that she do as he said.

Addie sent a quick text to Stefan asking him about what was going on. His response was instant but short. A situation was going down with Connor but he and a few hybrids had the situation under control. Damon and everyone else was safe.

* * *

Dark, grey clouds had rolled into as the sun had set. Desperate to avoid the rain, Addie had picked up her pace as she headed back into to town. However, drained from a day of ultra-running, she had been too slow to avoid the storm. The forest floor quickly turned slippery and muddy, forcing her to travel along the side of the road. She guessed she was about six miles out of town when she had an overwhelming sense of deja vu.

Up ahead a figure was lying in the road. The mass was much too big to be a rabbit, squirrel, or any small game. The deer in the area were known to become pretty large, though. The closer she got, the more discernible the figure mass became. It was human. Suddenly dizzy, Addie slowed to a stop and blinked slowly. When she opened her eyes, there person had vanished.

Instinctively she spun on her heel, slipping slightly. The asphalt was slick with rain and her Converse didn't provide the greatest amount of traction. An arm shot around her waist, quickly balancing her. Addie wasn't surprised to find herself staring up into a man's light eyes, the exact color imperceptible in the dark.

She shoved lightly at the broad chest, breaking his hold and reprimanded, "What the hell?! You can get killed lying in the middle of the road, you idiot. If you're on a holy crusade for suicide, hey, I'm all for suicide if you hate life that much. I get being that selfish. Yet how can you be so reckless? Some driver could have swerved or slammed on the brakes to try and avoid hitting you. In that process, you could have gotten them killed! That's just - that's - that's -"

Damon stood there, his smile growing as she parroted back the exact words she had used they very first time they met. Arrogantly he supplied, "I think the word you're looking for is still selfish. You might not be able to fathom killing someone but others are just that selfish."

Addie scowled at him as he walked backwards towards the edge of the woods to prop himself up against a tree. It couldn't possibly be the exact same tree as before, could it? It looked like it.

Just like that first night she felt a sensation pulling her towards the raven haired man. She noticed the way his black hair fell in his enticing eyes, plastered to his forehead by the rain, and his angular features. How had she only ever thought of him as merely _attractive?_ He was the physical form of perfection.

Still, his good looks did nothing to stop the anger from rising up in her. She had wondered when they first met if he was that selfish; but she knew the answer now.

"Seriously, Damon. What in the fucking hell were you doing?" she bit, furiously brushing away raindrops that clung precariously to her eyelashes. "Were you out _hunting_? Did you think it would be _amusing_ to be the cause of an accident? I mean, is Jeremy out for a drive and you thought that would be a fun idea? After all, first my parents' accident, and then Elena, and if you add in the fact that I _should_ be dead… really, Jeremy is the only one missing from the family club!"

"Ad-"

"No, Damon!" Addie yelled over the sound of the pouring rain. Her foot made a sickening _squelch_ in the mud as she stomped dramatically. "I don't want to hear your excuses. Stupidly, I thought, over this past year and a half you had become less selfish but you haven't! You haven't changed at all. You're still the same selfish man who compelled me for his own amusement that night."

That was a little harsh. He couldn't deny he could be absurdly selfish but he had gotten a little better about it, at least when it came to Addie.

"I wasn't hunting. I was waiting for you. I would have heard any car coming and moved before they ever would have seen me. There was never any chance of an accident," he explained, trying not to sound overly defensive. He couldn't say he would forever abandon his genius method of catching victims but he had already decided he wouldn't use it while with Addie. He knew it bothered her.

Addie's arms wrapped around herself for comfort and warmth as she registered just how chilly the November rain was once she was no longer running. She wasn't sure if her trembling was from the cold or anger. It didn't matter what Damon said; she was still furious at him.

Tersely she demanded, "How did you know I'd be here?"

"Because I know where you run."

"I took off in a random direction this morning. I didn't follow a path," Addie countered quickly.

It was hardly random. He wondered if Addie even realized she always ran north and away from the city, from her problems. And she wouldn't be careless enough to stray too far into the woods and away from a road. The rain would have forced her to travel along as she had a strong opposition against mud. There was only one road that led north out of town. It didn't require a doctorate to figure out where she would be, just a little knowledge of her quirks.

Annoyed by her unwarranted glare Damon snipped, "Are you still pissed off at me because of Elena and last night?"

Addie turned away from him as her eyes started to sting. What happened between him and Elena didn't bother her; he had said it didn't mean anything and she trusted him. It bothered her more than she cared to admit that, even hypothetically, Damon didn't want to be human. He couldn't give her that one little thing to preserve their relationship.

"No," she answered, her voice slightly higher than usual.

"Then what is it?" Damon implored, his tone marginally gentler as he could hear she was of the verge of crying.

"I'm just tired; that tends to happen when you run a million miles in a day," she lied easily.

"Actually, when you factor in your stamina, speed, and length of time you've been running, it's far more likely you ran closer to 50 miles," he advised, doing his best imitation of her know-it-all voice.

"Don't sass me, Salvatore. I'm in no mood for it," Addie grumbled, starting to walk away from him. "I'm cold and wet and I just want to go home."

He easily caught up to her in two long strides and slung his arm around her shoulders. "You decided it would be a good idea to run in the pouring rain in the middle of November in Virginia. That's probably why you're cold and wet. I can't imagine anyone being in a good mood under such circumstances," Damon teased as he walked with her, glad she wasn't pushing him away.

"I didn't _decide_ to run in the rain," she grumbled bitterly. "There wasn't any rain in the forecast. I'm not responsible for my condition; the crappy meteorologist is."

* * *

Addie could immediately sense a thick tension between her and Damon as they settled in his car. She could feel it rippling off him in waves. It ran deeper than her being upset with him about not wanting to take the cure. There was a hazy, cloudy sense she was getting from him; he was hiding something from her.

"Here," he said, passing her one of his famous leather jackets after he had turned on the heat.

She pushed the jacket aside and replied stiffly, "No thank you."

"Addie, take the damn jacket. You're cold and shivering and now is not the time for you to have one of your childish battle of wills," he insisted, a muscle in his clenched jaw twitching.

Her eyes widen and she scoffed and she scoffed silently. Childish? Addie turned of the heater. She would show him childish.

"You're seriously going to do that?" he snorted in disbelief. "You're really going to sit there and sulk and be miserable because you're mad at me?"

Addie didn't answer. She knew that her being uncomfortable would make him feel guilty. He should feel guilty. _How dare he not want to be in a relationship they had dreamed of._ And he should feel for guilty for whatever he was hiding from her.

"You're being ridiculous," Damon grumbled in annoyance.

"Really?" Addie retorted sharply. "I thought I was being childish."

"You're being both. You've been both all day, starting with sneaking out this morning and ignoring my calls."

"I didn't want to talk to you," she said simply.

"Yeah, I eventually gathered that after Elena finally got in touch with you," he scolded. "Do you have _any_ idea how worried I was about you when you just took off like that?"

"Damon, you are _not_ my father. You are my boyfriend; you do not get to lecture me," snapped Addie.

He eyed her incredulously out of the corner of his eye. "Are you serious? I have every right to lecture you. You went off on your own and did something stupid."

"I went on a run! I do that all the time!"

" _That was before Klaus!_ You can't do shit like that anymore! He plans to hurt and use you, Ads! I can't take not knowing where you are," he stressed.

"You are _not_ the boss of me. You do not get to control me and what I do."

Damon's grip on the steering wheel tightened until his knuckles turned white. He had to remind himself not to crush it with his strength. Addie would always be impossible to control but he could do his best to try and get her to understand in how much danger she was.

"I'm not trying to boss you around. I'm trying to protect you," he sighed wearily. "I couldn't take losing you after…"

"After what?"

"Just after everything," he shrugged, pulling into the the driveway of the boarding house.

"Damon, what are you hiding from me?" Addie asked quietly as he turned the car off.

He could sense she was trying to get the conversation over with so she could go home. Stalling for time he decided, "Come in and I will tell you."

She knew it was a stall tactic but she decided to go along with it, following him inside as they dashed through the pouring rain.

"You can take the shower first," Addie offered as she pulled her clothes out of Damon's dresser.

Normally he would have made a comment about how it would be more efficient if they shared the shower but he doubted Addie was in a mood to appreciate his sense of humor.

"There are plenty of bathrooms in this house with a vast hot water supply. I'm sure we are capable of both showering at the same time," he reasoned logically. "You can use mine. I'll find one of the spare ones."

Addie gave him a small smile and said dryly, "Wow. You know it's true love when a man offers to give up the best shower in the house to you."

"Damn straight," Damon straight agreed, giving her a flirtatious grin.

Addie had just finished drying her hair when a foreboding, dark sensation overcome her. It was an acute reminder that Damon was still hiding something from her. He returned to the room carrying a breakfast tray loaded down with various foods. He wouldn't care that she wasn't hungry; he'd just be obsessed over her nutrition, like he always was.

Seeing her scowl Damon started before she objected, "I'm betting you've gone all day without eating or drinking. It's a miracle that you haven't passed out from dehydration or starvation. You need to refuel."

Though he was right, Addie wasn't going to tell him that. She selected the bottle of lemon lime Gatorade from the tray he had set on the dresser. Electrolytes and getting re-hydrated were most important. The idea of food was nauseating, however.

"You need actual food, too," he said disapprovingly as he watched her lean against one of the post at the end of his bed.

Her dark blue eyes gave a dramatic roll. "Be glad roll that I'm drinking this," she grumbled, opening the bottle. "What's with the pants?"

Damon glanced down at the black pajama bottoms. He couldn't remember the last time he wore them, let alone when he actually bought them. Simply he explained, "I thought Elena might come over and I figured you wouldn't want her to see me walking around in my boxers."

"Actually, I wouldn't want her to see you walking around half naked," Addie corrected snidely.

He raised a challenging eyebrow at her, to which Addie just crossed her arms.

"Elena's already seen me shirtless," Damon pointed out as she continued to stare icily at him, her lips pursed defiantly.

Addie took a long, deliberate sip of Gatorade before deciding dismissively, "Fine... You know, Stefan and I, I guess we kind of clung to each other this summer when we were with Klaus."

She saw a muscle in Damon's jaw flinched as he clenched instinctively. His eyes were weary and uncertain; he didn't know where she was headed.

"We were each other's ties to reality, to Mystic Falls. It was those moments we hid from Klaus that kept us sane." Her finger traced the neck of the bottle as she looked up at Damon through her lashes, pleased that he seemed thrown off. It was hard to keep from smirking as she said with feigned innocence, "It was hard not to notice how fit Stefan was when he was shirtless so much."

Damon's flushed with anger and jealousy. It wasn't only that his girlfriend found his brother physically attractive; it was that there was an emotional bond on some level. He knew it had to be there. He couldn't deny that Addie and Stefan had been closer after their summer together but he had hoped that watching him rip off heads of innocent people was enough to remind Addie to keep her distance. Though, she always had a thing for bad boys. He was proof of that.

He was momentarily distracted from his increasingly horrified thoughts as he recalled, "You said you didn't like Stefan's chest. You said he was completely shredded and ripped beyond what any normal person should be."

Damon kept up with his physical appearance. His chest and abs were firm and defined, but not overly so. He knew Addie was very impressed with his amazing biceps. He worried if he needed to amp up his workout routine and become more muscular like Stefan.

"I don't remember ever saying I didn't find him attractive or specifically dislike anything about him physically," Addie said slowly, as if searching through her memories. She knew she had actually made it a point to be clear that she preferred Damon over Stefan in every way and there was no competition. Simply she suggested, "Perhaps that was just your interpretation."

Addie bit the inside of her lip anxiously as the tips of his ears turned red. She hoped she hadn't pushed him too far but she also wanted to get her way. It was the first time she had ever intentionally made him jealous and he had never been jealous over _her and Stefan_ before.

"Fine," Damon seethed, going to his dresser and pulling out one of his old t-shirts Addie usually slept in He tugged it on roughly and held his arms out for inspection. "Happy?" he growled.

Addie pointedly looked around the room and remarked wryly, "I mean, Elena's not here and unless you expect her to come barging in the door I really don't see why you need a shirt. Though, if you _expect_ her to come barging into the room we probably have bigger issues to discuss than just you wearing a shirt around her."

"I know you think you're being cute and funny but you're not," Damon said, his voice low and steady despite his anger. "I've had a shit day, which you're not helping, and I'm not in the mood for your attitude."

"I don't think I'm being cute or funny," Addie replied in mild amusement. "I might think I'm being an obnoxious smartass but-"

"I'm not in the mood for that."

"But," she continued, ignoring his interruption, "you know that's how I always am and you can take it or leave it."

"Maybe we shouldn't talk until you're not so pissed about last night and I'm in a better mood," Damon snapped. He had merely been upset about Stefan working with Klaus and Elena killing the Hunter, their key to finding the cure, but Addie had managed to make him feel insecure, agitated and angry when she brought up Stefan.

"I'm not mad that you got high on blood like some crackhead and then dirty danced with my sister," Addie sighed. When it was phrased like that she wondered if she was a little upset with him as she took a drink of the yellow Gatorade.

A crease formed between Damon's eyebrows as he frowned slightly. "That's exactly what your sister said."

She quipped back smartly, "Yeah, well, I guess she was feeling guilty because those are the exact words that she used to apologize to me in a text. You think I shouldn't be mad if you both feel guilty?"

"I think you shouldn't be mad because you already said you weren't going to be mad about it and I told you why I felt guilty. I felt guilty because I wasn't there with _you_. You said you're not mad at me about that! So, no, you don't get to be mad and pissy, unless you're lying to me, which we don't do," Damon ranted in exasperation.

Addie finished off the last half of the bottle and set it on the tray of food. She pulled a part two slices of bread to find peanut butter and pickles. Damon knew not to ever use jelly and to always add crunchy pickles. Addie knew she should eat it but the idea of food made her nauseous. She picked up another bottle of Gatorade instead and slowly opened it as she thought.

Damon felt guilty because he wanted her to be a vampire because he wanted them to experience forever together but he knew she would hate that lifestyle. Addie couldn't fault him for wanting her to change because he wanted to be happy for the rest of their lives together. She wanted him to take the cure and become human for the same reason. The difference was, she _wasn't_ selfish for wanting that. They would both be happy if Damon was a human. He had been a human before and had been happy. He had planned to have a family. They could have all that together _and_ be with each other for the rest of their lives.

She got to be pissed at him because _he_ was selfish and didn't want to change so they could have that.

Of course, she was lying to him. She hadn't told him about the Cure.

Her hackles raised she accused defensively, "You're lying to me right now."

"I'm not lying to you," Damon said quickly.

"You've got this air of darkness around you," Addie countered, knowing she was right.

Damon swore under his breath, his lips barely moving as he dragged his fingers through his hair roughly. He _knew_ Addie didn't tell him everything. He didn't accuse her of keeping secrets or of lying; he respected her privacy and accepted there were things that she didn't want to tell him. It annoyed him but if it was important, she would tell him on her own time. It wasn't fair that she could literally sense every time he knew he was doing something wrong in not being completely open and honest with her.

"I told Elena to kill Connor Jordan and she did," admitted Damon.

It was a truth. If Elena hadn't killed Connor then he would still be alive and they would still be able to use him to find an alleged cure for Elena. He didn't want to tell Addie about the Cure if there was no way to find it, though. Addie would just feel further guilt that there had been a chance to save her sister for what she considered an eternity of misery and she hadn't managed to secure it for Elena. There was no reason to bear her with that burden when there was nothing she could do about it.

It also didn't settle well with him how she had asked him about if he would turn human if given the chance. He didn't want to bring that topic back up. Addie knowing anything about the alleged cure was a jumble of disappointment.

Addie sat down on the bed slowly as the words slowly registered. Klaus had said Connor's Hunter's mark, the map to the Cure, wasn't complete. Elena had killed Connor. They couldn't finish the map. They couldn't find the cure.

Elena would be forever stuck as a vampire. She had truly given up her life and every chance at happiness for Addie to live and she hadn't even needed to.

"Why?" whispered a horrified Addie. Elena wouldn't kill someone because Damon told her to.

"Connor took Matt, April Young, and Jeremy hostage at the Grill," he explained, sinking down next to her. "I'm just so glad you weren't there."

"Was someone hurt?" she asked quickly. That was why Klaus had wanted to know where she was and wanted her to stay out of town.

"Connor shot Jeremy in the stomach but Elena gave him some blood. He's fine," Damon reassured her. He placed a comforting hand on her back as her eyes and the tip of her nose turned red.

 _Unless he dies with her blood in his system,_ Addie thought. Elena had to be consumed with despair; she couldn't handle killing someone.

"How did Elena even get close enough to kill him?" Addie murmured tersely. Through blurry vision she looked up at Damon and whispered desperately, "How could you let her do that? You were supposed to be looking out for her."

Damon was wracked with guilt as he met her wide, blue eyes. Stefan had been working with Klaus because to keep Connor alive because he knew about the Cure. His brother had taken his ring to stop Damon from killing Connor but Stefan had never anticipated Elena interfering. Damon never should have told Elena to kill Connor. He never should have let Elena go take on Connor by herself. He should have made her wait with him until the sun went down. Considering the lives of her friends, brother, and boyfriend were in danger he would have likely had to physically restrain her. He would have physically restrained Addie if it kept her from running headlong into certain death. He had promised to protect Elena just as he would Addie but Elena was different. She wasn't as vulnerable.

"I know. I'm sorry," Damon said, his words sounding lame and useless to his own ears. Any explanation would have just been an excuse.

The darkness from Damon had lessen but it still lingered. Addie wiped at a lone tear and choked, "What are you not telling me?"

"I told you what happened." It was true. If he stuck to the truth and believed in the truth, perhaps she wouldn't sense he was trying to hide something.

"Yeah," she said slowly, "but there's more."

He shrugged as he thought of another truth, "Elena feels horrible for killing someone and I feel bad because I'm the one who told her to do it."

"Don't you think she made that decision on her own? I mean, do you think I would kill someone just because you said to? You can't compel her anymore," Addie pointed out reasonably.

"It seems like lately she's been doing everything I say… or finding a way to blame everything on me."

"She can still think for herself." Klaus had said _Stefan_ was handling the situation. Stefan never would have let Elena get so close to danger. Klaus also wouldn't permit it when he was working so hard to make Elena human again. "You were supposed to be watching her," Addie surmised softly.

"I couldn't have stopped her from protecting the people she loved anymore than I could have stopped you," Damon bristled.

She rolled her eyes. "You would have held me captive or some ridiculous shit. You should have done that to Elena."

"And you would have lost all respect for me and been furious. You'd also hate me for eternity if something happened to someone because I stopped. You and Elena are very different but when it comes to protecting the people you care about, you're exactly the same. Except, she's a vampire and if she were to hate me for eternity, it would _literally_ be eternity."

"You should have stopped her," Addie snapped back bitterly, shoving the closed Gatorade bottle in his hand as she stood up. "Now she has to suffer an eternity of guilt."

"She's a vampire, Ads! You and everyone else need to stop deluding yourselves to believe otherwise. She was going to kill someone eventually. It's better that she get it over with and out of the way now instead of struggling to walk some impossible ethical plane for a hundred years and feel even more guilt when she does screw up and kill someone who is actually innocent!" Damon exclaimed in frustration.

Her mouth opened but she quickly shut it. She had almost told him that Elena had killed her only chance at being cured. But a cold dread stopped her. Elena hadn't just ruined her own chance at happiness; she had also ruined Damon's chance of becoming human when she killed Connor. It wouldn't be fair to burden him with that knowledge.

Suddenly filled with a desperate desire to be alone, she bit, "I'm going home and checking on my sister. This is your last chance to tell me what you are lying to me about. _You_ are the one who just said we don't lie to each other."

Damon huffed impatiently as he tossed the bottle on the bed and stood up, too. "I'm not lying to you; I just don't want to have to tell you this!"

"That's the same thing!"

"No, it's not!"

Addie nodded insistently and argued smartly, "Yes, it is. It even has a name. It's called lying by omission."

She wasn't lying by not telling him about the Cure because she was protecting him.

"Then all you do is lie to me when you don't want to talk about what is bothering you!" He sneered, throwing his hands up in annoyance. "Do you have any idea how unfair it is that you have some special ability to detect when I don't want to tell you something?"

"That's _not_ how it works and you know it. It's a defense mechanism. It only goes off when you feel guilty or are doing something you know is wrong or are doing something that can put me in danger. It's why I feel a constant sense of doom around Klaus. You can keep secrets like surprises and things that don't matter. I know you would never put me in danger so I know that you must feel guilty or be doing something wrong!" Addie barked, knowing Damon already knew how her ability worked.

Damon raised his hands up innocently. "Then I'm not doing anything wrong. I already told you why I feel guilty."

"And that lessened the feeling but I can still sense you're hiding something!"

He shook his head and shrugged as he kept a neutral face, "I don't know what to tell you. Your senses must be off because I've told you everything and I'm not doing anything wrong."

"That's the story you're sticking with?" she said icily, crossing her arms in a challenge.

"It's not a story."

Addie pushed past him, purposefully knocking him in the shoulder. As she walked out the door she grumbled formally, "Good night, Damon. Thank you for the ride back."

Damon followed her, tensing with jealousy as they ran into Stefan at the bottom of the stairs. He was bare-chested with a wet shirt slung over his shoulder. The rain and arguing with Addie had kept Damon from hearing his brother come home.

Addie made sure Damon was looking at her as she let her eyes roam over Stefan's chiseled chest and abs as she intentionally fumbled grabbing her keys off the rack by the door. It was a childish and cold move but he way lying to her and pissing her off.

"Stefan, I'm sorry," Addie said sincerely as she met his gaze. He nodded in understanding. She bid him goodnight as she made to leave. Damon tried to step in for a kiss. Addie could see the possessiveness and hint of insecurity in his sky blue eyes and feel the anger radiating off of him. She pushed him away. If he couldn't understand how she felt about him lying, he could at least understand how she felt about his relationship with Elena.

Once the door closed behind Addie Damon sneered at his brother, "Put your shirt on."

* * *

 **A/N: So sorry for the long delay in update. My computer broke and I had to send it off to be repaired. What was supposed to take three weeks turned into eight and it came back with everything erased - including everything involving the Control series.**

 **Next chapter: Damon confronts Klaus regarding his plans with Addie. Addie and Damon both learn the other knows about the Cure.**

 **Please drop a comment so I know you guys are still out there ;) Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

The frosty November air nipped at her cheeks as Addie carefully scurried from her Jeep to the front porch. Just enough snow had fallen overnight to make the ground slick. Addie tried to unlock the door but when she put the key in the lock a loud creak resounded in the silence as the heavy wooden door swung open unassisted.

Wary of the open door, Addie stepped into the boardinghouse. Her hands shoved into the pockets of her jacket, noticing the room was colder than usual. The home was surprisingly airy and bright as every drape, curtain, and blind had been tucked away, the early morning sun beaming in every corner. A sense of foreboding ran down her spine.

"Damon?" she whispered uncertain, walking further into the living room. She said his name a little louder as she fully entered the room. Perhaps he hadn't heard her. Her brows furrowed when he didn't respond. Peering into the kitchen she called for him again, despite the fact that it was obvious he wasn't there. Her hands settled on her hips as she said experimentally, "Stefan."

"In the study," responded a calm but distracted voice.

Addie followed the sound of Stefan's voice to find him hunched over a desk. The sound of pen lightly scraping against paper could be heard. The library was unlike the rest of the house in that all of the shades were drawn and there were no lights, except for the small lamp illuminating the diary Stefan was writing in. It was weird that absolutely no sun seeped into the room. The whole house was a mass of contradictions. It felt _off._

"Where's Damon?" she inquired, trying to control the trembling in her voice.

Stefan didn't turn to look at her but muttered, "That's not funny."

"What do you mean?"

There was the click of a pen as Stefan shoulders shifted with a deep breath. He answered tersely, "You know what happened to Damon."

Addie shook her head in confusion and insisted, "No, I don't. What are you talking about?"

"He's gone," he spat venomously. "He's gone because of you."

"What? No. He's not gone. He was here last night."

"Damon's gone!" roared Stefan, sweeping the contents of the desk onto the ground in anger. The small light went out but even in the dark Addie could see the cold, dead, misery in his eyes. "He's been gone a long time."

There was a tightening in her chest as she turned from the library. She wasn't sure if her feet or her heart was moving faster as she zipped up the stairs. The look in Stefan's eye was a look she had only seen once before. It was the same rock bottom Damon had hit when he realized Stefan's humanity was so lost that he had carelessly broken Addie's arm in the process of kidnapping Elena.

"Damon!" Addie cried out, flinging open his bedroom door. The wind was knocked out of her as she realized all of the furniture except the dresser had been removed. She choked on a lump in her throat as began pulling out the drawers, starting at the bottom. The stinging in her eyes intensified with each empty one she opened. A sob slipped past her lips and her voice cracked on his name as she looked into the final drawer, where his prized alcohol was supposed to be.

Little gasps escaped her as she struggled to catch her breath. Damon couldn't be _gone_. She whined in agony as she began to open his closet, praying it held his clothes. Addie wailed loudly as she saw the large, bare space.

The only object in the room besides the dresser was the mirror over the closet door. Addie catched a glimpse of a small, wrinkly, elderly woman with long silver hair and deep blue eyes in the glass.

 _Was that her?_

"Ads," crooned a gentle voice.

The reflection patted at her hair as Addie did the same. She whimpered. If she was old, had Damon left when she was thirty?

"Addie." The voice was firmer.

Or had Damon taken the Cure and he had _died_?

" _Damon_ ," Addie moaned pitifully.

The pads of Damon's thumbs swept at the constant stream of tears rolling down her cheeks. Resting his forehead against hers he pleaded, "Love, wake up. I'm right here."

Addie shifted at the familiar scent of ginger, cloves, and sandalwood. At heavy presence hovered over her. She knew the firm hands that cradled her face. Even the breath of mint that mingled with hers was one she knew.

She could clearly imagine the luscious, dark locks her fingers thrust into. Her mouth found his with a practiced ease. His lips were warm and molded easily with hers. Addie relaxed minutely as a large, strong hand slid under the small of her back.

Damon broke away as Addie took a shuddering breath and a fresh wave of hot tears brushed against his cheeks. He gently brushed away the stray hairs that clung to her face. His lips moved against her temple as he cooed, "It's ok, Ads."

Addie moved a hand to the back of Damon's neck, toying with the soft hair that curled there as she hiccupped. He continued to make soft, soothing sounds as she held him close.

Addie wasn't sure if they laid there for hours or minutes before she began to think clearly.

She'd had a nightmare; it had been nothing more than that. Damon couldn't have possibly taken the Cure because Elena had killed Connor. If Damon never became human, he could remain immortal. If he never turned, he would never face the one certainty of humans: death. Addie would never have to risk living without him because he was a weak, fragile human.

He'd never be _gone_.

At least not like that.

Addie had started to calm down but he could feel her tense again. As she dug her nails into the side of his neck reflexively Damon repeated softly, "It's ok, Addie."

It wasn't ok, though. There was no cure. Damon would remain a vampire. And when Addie turned 30, he would leave her so she could live out the rest her life, able to indulge in all the human things he couldn't give her, particularly a family. He would be gone.

"Love, don't," he begged, kissing the lone tear that slipped out from her closed eyes. "Don't cry."

"You were gone."

Damon would have been deaf to miss the accusatory note in her voice. It didn't make sense. He hadn't left. She had left the boarding house because she was mad that the wouldn't tell her about the Cure. Despite being annoyed with her petulant behavior Damon had offered to come over to spend the night, knowing she had tendency to have nightmares when she slept alone.

Not wanting to start an argument so early in the day, he hesitated, "In your dream?"

Addie took his words as a statement rather than a question. Her hand landed on his cheek, guiding his face closer. Their lips pressed together firmly. Her hands glided over him, slipping under his shirt's collar to trace the broad expanse of his upper back. Addie was acutely aware of being held so tightly against his hard chest; Damon definitely wasn't gone.

She nipped softly at his lip. Damon hesitated when Addie tried to further the kiss. He had alway assumed that the majority of her nightmares were due to the time that she spent watching Stefan rip through Chicago. It never occurred to him that he was a cause of them.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he inquired gently, hoping she would agee.

Their blue eyes briefly met as Addie possessively took his face in her hands and kissed him– gently to begin with and then with hunger. She didn't want to talk about Damon being dead or their relationship inevitably ending. She realized that Damon would be _gone_ , in one way or another, and it sucked. It wasn't something talking with him fixed.

At first Damon was reluctant, responding only in kind. But as the kiss grew deeper, he wrapped an arm around her waist and crushed her to him, devouring her tongue. He groaned softly as her fingers toyed at his hair, slowly tugging. Distantly he heard a throat clear. A few seconds later he heard it again and remembered that he hadn't magically shown up at his girlfriend's when she had been having a nightmare. He had been summoned.

Breaking away reluctantly, he sighed, "Elena's downstairs."

Addie's brows furrowed, her mood immediately turning sour. "I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"She's waiting for me," admitted Damon, glancing in the mirror as he pushed his hair back into place.

Cold dread spread through Addie, the simple statement more arousing than being doused with cold water. "Excuse me? _Elena_ is waiting for you? Why?"

"She stabbed Jeremy in the neck last night," he said as he stood to leave the room. He caught flash of Addie's bloodless face and quickly added, "He was wearing his magic ring. He's not actually dead." From downstairs he could hear Elena cursing him. Figuring his time was up, he headed out. As he popped his head back in, Addie stood at her dresser, quickly pulling on a pair of clothes. He flashed her a dazzling, lopsided grin. "By the way - good morning, love."

The waded ball off socks Addie had launched at him sailed through the doorway, long after his head had disappeared. She grumbled about cheating vampires and ignored the socks as she went into the hall, making sure to lock her door behind her. She noticed her window had been open and assumed Damon had entered from it. It was force of habit to keep it unlocked on the rare occasion she slept at home and Damon wasn't there.

* * *

"Go back to your room," Elena ordered, appearing at the landing of the stairs.

"You don't get to make orders and be parental!" Addie snapped, shoving her sister out of the way. "You stabbed our brother and _killed_ him."

Instinctively Elena grabbed at Addie's bicep, stopping her from walking further into the living room. "I didn't _kill_ him. He's wearing his ring."

The more Addie struggled to broke Elena's grasp the tighter she held. The sticky blood on Elena's hands was cool. Through gritted teeth Addie hissed, "A ring that will turn him into a murderous psychopath! I mean, were you hoping that he wasn't wearing it or are you trying to turn him insane? Ow!"

Damon immediately stepped between the sisters, pushing Elena far enough back that she was forced to let go of Addie. "She was hallucinating and thought he was Connor."

" _Damon!_ " Elena shrieked indignantly. Even though she felt like she was going crazy didn't mean she wanted her little sister to think she was.

Addie gagged as she spied her brother, pale and limp. The blood pooled down the left side of his shirt and stained his neck. The rest of him appeared uninjuried. Addie grabbed at his hand, checking for herself that his ring was in place. Her eyes met with the Hunter's Mark, obviously incomplete as it only covered the back of his hand. Instantly she dropped it in surprise. _How the hell had he gotten that?_

Addie tuned back in to hear Damon and Elena arguing.

"You should have called Stefan," Damon muttered.

"I don't want to talk to him," Elena stated decisively. "He's been lying to me and hiding things from me. He compelled Jeremy to forget God knows what!"

Addie flashed back to the conversation she had a few days ago with Stefan after Klaus had used Jemery to draw Connor's Mark.

 _"I just got done having a wonderful evening with Klaus and Rebekah," he explained, giving her a knowing look._

 _Addie nodded and opened the door further as an invitation for him to come in. Concerned she quickly asked, "Jeremy?"_

 _"Downstairs playing video games. He doesn't remember a thing," Stefan reassured her, taking a seat in her desk chair._

Stefan was just as guilty of hiding things as she was. Stefan and Addie had both been working with Klaus because they knew about the Cure. Unfortunately, it had been discovered that Stefan was - Actually, it was never clarified as to how Elena ended up killing Connor when Klaus has told Addie Stefan was handling the situation but she imagined that probably resulted in him looking pretty shady.

"In all fairness, I kinda think you killing him trumps being compelled to forget something," Addie retorted bitterly. "You should have called your own boyfriend."

"I don't trust him, right now, Addie," Elena repeated, managing to sound only slightly annoyed.

Addie shrugged unsympathetically as she looked at her sister. "I don't really see how that's my problem. One would think that you'd date a guy you could trust."

Damon didn't miss the icy glare that Addie shot at him with her last sentence. He had assumed after this morning they were over their little spat from the previous night when she had sensed something off in him because he did not want to tell her about the cure. Thankfully he was saved from her piercing gaze with the opening of the front door and entrance.

"PS - I called Stefan," Damon added into the awkward silence. The traitorous look Elena gave him was slightly painful but the satisfied smirk Addie had hopefully meant he had scored some brownie points with her.

"What happen? Why did you call me?" Stefan asked in concern as he walked fully into the house.

Addie went back to staring at Jeremy's hand as Elena made an excuse about needing to shower and went upstairs without answering Stefan's question. Suddenly Jeremy sat up, gasping, "What happened?"

* * *

Damon used a damp cloth to wipe at the blood of Addie's arm from where Elena had grabbed her. At least thirty minutes has passed and there was still a large print.

"I'm afraid that's going to bruise," he sighed, rinsing the towel off in the kitchen sink.

"That's fine," Addie mumbled distractedly as she reached for the dish towel from Damon.

He held it above his head, drawing her eyes up until they met his. "I don't like you hurt. I also don't want someone thinking I did that."

"I'll tell them Elena did it," she retorted, balancing on her toes to try and grab it.

Damon took advantage of her lack of stability and ensnared an arm around her waist, pulling her against his chest. "I don't think people would approve of that."

Her lips pressed into a thin line as she pushed away from him. "When I tell them she stabbed Jeremy in the neck and killed him, I'll be considered lucky. Give me the towel. I need to clean up my brother's blood."

"I can clean it up," Damon offered. "You had a hard enough time not being sick just looking at Jeremy."

"Give me the towel," she repeated tensely, reaching for it as he moved it again out of her reach.

Damon stepped out of the embrace and moved past her. He heard her curse at him as he began wiping Jeremy's blood off the kitchen floor. Out loud he wondered, "Why do you always get so stubbornly independent when you're mad? Do you think it somehow punishes me?" He waved the bloody rag under her nose as he moved back to the sink to rinse it. Bile rose in her throat and it took great effort for her to keep it down. He shook his head in mild amusement, "You're the one who would have been cleaning blood and vomit."

"You would have felt bad if I puked because you don't like to see me suffer. You're also bothered by the fact I won't let you heal a potential bruise that doesn't even hurt. Thus, I conclude that my being _independently stubborn_ punishes you," Addie reasoned matter-of-factly.

Leaning against the counter, he glared down his nose disapprovingly at her. "So, you're consciously torturing me?"

Her head tilted as she considered this. "No, I'm just being me. You consciously choose to surround yourself with women who make you suffer. First Katherine, and then Elena, and now me," she refuted.

Damon stroked his chin in mock thought quipped wryly, "I'm destined to be in a perpetual state of unrequited love with women who will always end up leaving, usually choosing my brother over me."

Addie took his pointed stare as a reference to her pretending to check out Stefan when storming out of the boarding house the previous night. She knew it had been petty but the off sense she still received from him kept her from feeling too guilty.

"We can discuss your insecurities whenever you want to tell me the truth about whatever you're hiding."

That was as close as Damon was going to get to an apology or an acknowledgement that Addie had even done anything wrong. It would do for now as he didn't want their conversation overheard as he was overhearing Elena and Stefan from upstairs.

"Elena. Hey. Listen, I know you're still upset about yesterday and I get it, believe me, but just let me help you," pleaded his brother.

Quickly she dismissed him, "I don't want your help right now, Stefan."

Just as fast Stefan challenged, "But you'll accept Damon's?"

"Don't make this about Damon," snapped Elena.

The hair on the back of Addie's neck wrose. A feeling of dread settled in her stomach as she asked, "What happened?"

"Huh?" Damon acknowledged in mild confusion, his attention returning to the kitchen.

"I just got a bad vibe from you." When Damon didn't respond Addie continued, "And now your jaw is clenched."

He pointed a finger upstairs and tugged at his ear to signal he didn't want to be overheard.

Addie rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone to send a text message to Jeremy: _The back of your right hand?_

"You know I love you, right?" Damon mumbled in her ear, hugging her from behind.

"I know."

"And I know you're stressed and angry-"

"Because you're not being open and honest," Addie interrupted curtly, despite leaning back into the familiar feeling of his touch.

"Only because I want to protect you."

Cucumber melon filled his nose as Damon buried it in Addie's hair. His skin was cool on Addie's cheek, which was hot with anger. She wouldn't be happy until he came clean about the Cure/ Even then she would still sense he was hiding something about how the screwed up dynamics between him and Elena was affecting them all. "I promise we'll talk tonight."

"Fine," she mumbled, checking a text message from Jeremy..

 _Jeremy: Showed up last night after the hunter died. Matt can't see it._

What had Connor said about Jeremy? He could see the tattoo because he was a potential hunter and Addie could see it because she was his blood sister. What did it mean if Jeremy now had the tattoo? Addie needed to talk to Klaus. He was the expert on Hunters.

"Where's Jeremy?" Stefan asked, coming into the kitchen.

Addie moved from Damon's embrace as she answered, "He's helping Bonnie with some occult thing at school."

"Or maybe he didn't want to linger in a house where his sister just jammed a knife in his neck," Damon remarked darkly.

Addie was inclined to agree with Damon when Stefan's phone began to ring. His face shadow as he informed them it was Klaus calling.

"Oooh, time to face the music. Pay the piper, dance with the devil," Damon taunted.

"He's not the one who told Elena to kill Connor," Addie grumbled bitterly. It wasn't fair that everyone was ganging up on Stefan for working with Klaus to find a cure. She'd done her part.

"You know, I'm glad you find this amusing, Damon. If he finds out I told you about the cure, he'll kill all of us."

Addie blanched at Stefan's words but attempted to say innocently, "The cure?"

A knot formed in Damon's stomach; he hadn't wanted his brother to spill the beans. Addie was looking back and forth between him and Stefan but she wouldn't meet his eyes. "Quit avoiding him, You're being shady. Shady people get outed." His last statement was directed as much at his brother at it was at Addie.

"I don't want to talk about it," Stefan said into the phone as soon as he answered it on speaker.

Klaus's voice was cool as he said, "Well, I can't imagine why, what with you ruining all my plans for a hybrid filled future."

Stefan retorted mildly, "Well, it wouldn't have happened, if you hadn't sworn me to secrecy."

"Klaus, it's Addie," she interjected without thinking. "Couldn't you find another Hunter? Connor was one of five. Your plans don't have to be entirely ruined, just marginally delayed, right?"

"Addison, you are so insightful; that's why you're my favorite," Klaus replied brightly. He tone became more mellow and measured when he continued, "Of course _marginally delayed_ is relative. It did take me nearly 900 years to find one after the first five were killed. It may take centuries to find another hunter but we've got nothing but time, right, Stefan?"

"You're using your calm voice today. Who's getting killed?" Stefan asked warily.

"Not you, if that's what you're worried about. But I am concerned about your beloved. Have the hallucinations started yet?"

Stefan, Damon and Addie all exchanged an unsettled look.

"What do you know about that?" demanded Damon.

"I'll tell you. I'm guessing you've been filled in on everything else; though I'm assuming it was Stefan and not Addie with the big mouth. Where are all of you?"

Addie ignored the demanding, curious glare from Damon as she answered, "We're all at my house."

"How convenient, so am I."

There was a knock at the door as the line went dead. Addie moved towards the living room but Damon caught her by the wrist. He waved his free hand for Stefan to get the door as he hissed under his breath, "There is no way in hell you are going out there to talk to him."

"I can handle him," Addie snarled back, snatching her hand away. She heard the sound of the front door open and close as Stefan went outside.

There was a resounding crack as Damon slammed his hand on the counter. "No, you can't but that's not even the first on my list of issues right now. Why would Klaus assume _Stefan_ filled me in on what's been going on? Where you working with him, too?"

Her eyes fixated on a point over his shoulder as her fingers flitted nervously through her hair.

"Addie," Damon growled in a soft warning.

"I'm not going to lie to you."

His nodded minutely; her silence was enough confirmation. "Did you know about the cure?"

" _You_ knew about the cure," Addie spat back, trying to regain her footing. She didn't like when Damon was angry at her. She had to remind herself that she had a right to be mad with him.

"I found out last night! I had to find out from _Stefan_ , despite the fact that, apparently, my girlfriend, whom I thought I could trust, knew!" he yelled back defensively.

"That has nothing-"

Addie abruptly stopped talking as Elena entered the kitchen.

"Damon," Elena said hesitantly.

He nodded and took a step towards her. Elena shrieked and put up her hands to shield herself, despite being several feet away.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"No, no, no," Elena repeatedly, scurrying backwards, flashing out of the house.

Damon quickly followed, catching the last sight of Klaus flashing off with Elena in his grasp.

* * *

" _See_? This is why you _can't_ handle Klaus, despite your delusions," Damon lectured Addie as they, along with Stefan stood in the Gilbert living room. "He'll just randomly kidnap you."

"Yeah. Let's just blame Klaus," Addie nodded reasonably, "Or we could blame you for losing her."

"How does that even make sense?" he snapped back.

She shrugged, feigning confusion. "I mean, you said you're protecting her. You're doing a bangup job. You let her kill Connor. You let her kill her brother. You let her get kidnapped by Klaus."

"Will you two stop?" interjected Stefan, rubbing at his temple. They had been arguing for nearly ten minutes. "This isn't helping anything. I'm not so concerned with Klaus holding Elena right now if she's hallucinating. I'm more worried about what he said about this Hunter's Curse."

"What exactly did he say?" inquired Addie, eager for the change in topic. She wasn't keen on fighting with Damon in front of other people but if he wasn't going to let it go, neither was she.

"'The Hunters were spelled by witches to kill vampires; if you prevent one from fulfilling his destiny then he'll take you down with him.' He said something like Connor's death wouldn't prevent him from making Elena his final kill. He said if she was left alone, she'd take her own life before the day was over," Stefan informed them ominously.

Damon shook his head certainly. "Elena wouldn't do that."

"She also wouldn't normally stab Jeremy in the neck. I'm inclined to believe Klaus; he killed the original Hunters," Addie pointed out reluctantly.

"Alright, well, if it's a spell by witches then we just get a witch to undo the spell," provided Damon as he pulled out his cell.

"Bonnie doesn't have her powers."

"No but she's in contact with a creepy occult professor," Damon countered, pressing the phone to his ear.

"Right, well, I'm going to go get Elena back," Stefan said, going for the front door.

Addie quickly followed after him, saying brightly, "I'll help you."

He snorted, "Damon's not going to go for that."

"I don't really care what Damon wants," Addie grumbled.

"Right now I have no idea where he is keeping Elena or how I'm even going to get her back. When I figure it out, I'll let you know. The bigger issue is how we're going to break the curse so Elena doesn't kill herself when we do get her back. I need you to work on that." When Addie opened her mouth to protest, Stefan put a gentle hand on her shoulder and said softly, "Just make up with him."

Scowling, Addie turned back to see Damon hanging up his phone just as Stefan left.

"Glad to see my brother wasn't stupid enough to let you go running after Klaus and Elena with no plan," he grumbled. He held up a hand to stop Addie when she opened her mouth. "If you say you can handle him, I'm going to scream. You have no idea what he plans to do with you, Addie. Klaus _isn't_ nice. He's sucking up to you for some nefarious reason. You have to be able to sense _that_ if you can feel when I'm not telling you everything because I'm actually trying to protect you!"

She gave him a small, sad smile as she explained, "I've always sensed evil and deception from Klaus. I constantly do. I've never _trusted_ him. He's not the one I'm supposed to be able to trust, though."

"Yeah, and I should be able to trust you to tell me when there's shit like a cure that could fix your sister," Damon retorted readily.

Addie's eyes darted around the room uncomfortably as her fingers pulled through her brandy wine colored strands of hairs. Finally she said, "That's not what we need to discuss right now. We need to figure out how to break the Hunter's Curse."

"Bonnie's creepy professor is going to help us. He's at the school right now."

"And what do you plan on telling him?" she asked with uncertainty.

Damon rolled his eyes and retorted, "I'm not stupid. I'm not going to tell him anything. I just planned on asking him what he knows."

* * *

Addie watched Damon silently as he turned on a small table lamp and took a seat at Alaric's old desk, letting out a long sigh. He opened a draw and pulled out a bottle of bourbon, chuckling softly as he propped his feet on the desk. He took a sip of the alcohol, relishing in the slight burn.

"You miss him," Addie observed, taking a seat in the front of the class.

Damon shrugged dismissively, "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does," she whispered.

"No, Addie, it's doesn't. I had to kill Ric. He had already tried to kill you once and almost succeeded. He wasn't going to get a second chance," Damon snarled, making it clear he didn't want to discuss the topic. Under his breath he continued, "Besides, Ric was already, essentially gone. He had succumbed to the power of that damn ring."

There was a moment of silence as they both were lost in their own thoughts.

When they had arrived at the school Professor Shane was telling the story of the world's first tombstone, which was alleged to have belonged to a witch named Silas. Silas was a was so powerful that he, along with Qetsiyah, another witch who loved him, created a spell for immortality. Silas wanted to give immortality to another woman. Qetsiyah allegedly killed Silas' true love and buried him alive, leaving him powerless, immortal, and alone.

"Think Professor Shane was telling the truth about Silas?" Addie wondered aloud.

Damon rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the mounting tension. It was obviously that Addie was making small talk to avoid the awkward silence that had been plaguing them since they left the house.

"That we should be afraid because Silas wants to rise again and wreak havoc on the world?" he snorted. "No."

"Immortality had to start somewhere. Do you really think it began with Klaus and his siblings?" mused Addie.

"What's going on with you and Klaus? Why did he tell you about the cure?" Damon inquired more harshly than he intended, taking his feet of the desk and leaning towards Addie.

Addie tipped back in her chair, unconsciously putting more space between her and Damon. Her fingers twisted in her hair, pulling the locks around her face to shield her from his accusing glare. It was confusion, rather than guilt that she felt.

"He told me about it when I went over to see him when you and Elena were off at Whitmore," she said softly, trying to figure out where to start. "He knew everything about Elena being a vampire made me feel miserable and guilty. There is absolutely nothing more that I hate than the fact that Elena is a vampire. It's not a life I want for her or anyone else."

Two days she had withheld the information from him. Damon nodded slowly as it came together for him. "Klaus wanted Elena human to make more hybrids. He roped you into helping because you wanted your sister human out of guilt. Stefan was wrangled in because, well, he'd obviously want Elena human again, too. _Why_ , exactly, did he need your help?" Damon postulated. Stefan had explained his role in assisting Klaus by manipulating Rebekah into giving information and being muscles and such but he didn't see how Addie came in to play.

Addie replayed the entire conversation she had with Klaus the day that he told her of the cure. He had used _Jeremy_ to copy down Connor's tattoo. _Stefan_ had been the one to get the information from Rebekah on where the location of the sword was that was needed to decode the tattoo.

"He had no reason to tell me. If anything, telling me was a test. Stefan said Klaus initially believed I was going to tell you about the cure," Addie recalled.

"You know, I thought you would have told me about it, too," Damon grumbled bitterly. "Why didn't you?"

Exhaling slowly, Addie tipped her head back and looked up at the ceiling. "There's not just one simple answer. Stefan said Klaus said that because your blood turned Elena, it was ingrained in your vampire nature to protect your bloodline."

"That's ridiculous," Damon scoffed. "Addie, I know that you hate that Elena's a vampire and if I can fix that, I will."

"I know you would," Addie whispered. Her eyes were wide and pleading as they finally met his, begging him to understand. "Damon, I wanted to tell you if only because I knew you would do whatever you could to make me happy. If anyone could find the cure, it would be you. But Klaus was convinced that your nature might unintentionally cause you to sabotage us, which is something we couldn't afford. Elena needed - needs the cure. Klaus swore Stefan and me to secrecy."

"Stefan told me the same thing; I can accept that," Damon said softly after a few moments. His fingers steepled under his chin as he asked, "Why else didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't tell me, either," she quipped back, squirming in her seat. "And you can't say it was because I could potentially sabotage finding the cure."

His eyebrows furrowed as he said patronizingly, "Ads. You just said being a vampire isn't something you would want for anyone. You also asked me that night I came back from Whitmore if I'd ever want to go back to being human."

Addie recalled the crushing feeling of Damon telling her she didn't want to know the answer. He'd basically said he didn't want to be human. Instinctively her arms crossed her chest in a protective manner. Her throat tightened and eyes burned as she whispered, "That same night you told me you wished that I was the one that would be around for eternity as opposed to Elena and that you would never be ready to let me go."

"I remember," he said encouragingly when she stopped talking for several minutes. "I still mean that."

"And you understand the entire reason our relationship is on a time limit is because you're a vampire?" she muttered, not want to admit that she had wanted him to take the cure. He was smart enough to figure it out. She hadn't felt guilty about wanting him to take it but felt ashamed for feeling so _desperate._

Damon dragged a hand over his face. He didn't want to discuss the idea of him taking the cure. While he did want to spend his life with Addie, he still wasn't sure about being human. He decided to change the topic.

"The truth is I don't even believe that this cure is real but if I had done a better job of protecting Elena, she wouldn't have killed Connor. If he was still alive we could still use him to find the cure. But I didn't want to tell you about the Cure if there was no way to find it, though. I know you feel guilty about Elena turning. If you found out that there had been a chance to save her and you hadn't managed to secure it for Elena, well, I knew that would kill you. I was just trying to save you from disappointment regarding a cure we don't have, can't find, and probably doesn't even exist," Damon explained.

Some of the haze and tension that had been radiating from Damon alleviated; he was telling the truth.

"I believe Klaus. I think he would have moved onto whatever he wants with me if he didn't believe he could make Elena human again," Addie rationalized.

Damon's jaw clenched as he asked curtly, "What did he say?"

"When I suggested that he couldn't make anymore hybrids because Elena was a vampire he said that for the longest time he thought there was only one possible option if anything happened to Elena."

"Perhaps he meant the cure," Damon suggested.

Addie shook her head. "I don't think so. I think he meant even if Elena died."

Damon was growing more and more certain of what Klaus intended for Addie. Darkly he huffed, "I think you're right. Did he say anything else?"

"He said that he had the opportunity to run experiments now and he was in the process of doing so. He's doing them on people I don't know. He said I can't stop them," Addie admitted, ashamed that she hadn't tried to stop Klaus.

"You couldn't stop him," Damon reassured Addie. "You can't save everyone."

His mind flashed back to a picture he had found in the Hunter's trailer of Connor and two women who looked very much like his sisters. He was almost certain that was whom Klaus was experimenting on. If Klaus was running experiments it was only because Addie was his ultimate end game.

The classroom door open and Bonnie entered, followed by Professor Shane.

Quickly Bonnie introduced, "Shane, these are my friends, Damon and Addie. Damon's kind of an expert on this stuff too."

"I audited your class. Very enlightening," Damon smirked as his mind flashed back to Professor Shane interrupting him and Elena whispering which student she should eat.

"That's right, I remember you. What's your specialty?" said Professor Shane, a slight challenge in his voice.

Damon answered slowly, "The origin of a species."

"Ah, I think Darwin would arm wrestle you for that distinction."

"Not that species," Damon remarked wryly with a twist to his lips.

Professor Shane nodded in understanding, "You're into the monster stuff. All right, awesome."

Addie abruptly stood up as she pulled out her cell phone and scrolled to the photo of the Hunter's Mark Jeremy had drawn, saying as she did, "We were kind of hoping you might have stumbled upon this at some point, maybe."

Ignoring the quizzical, irritated look from Damon, Addie handed her phone to Professor Shane. It only to him a moment to look at it before responding with astonishment, " This is the Hunter's Mark. Where did you get this?"

"Came to me in a dream?" Damon offered as an answer, spreading his hands out helplessly. He was making it clear they were not going to tell Professor Shane that information. "Do you know anything about the hunter's curse?"

The professor's eyes went wide as he glanced away from the picture on the phone, "Why, you got a dead hunter in the trunk of your car or something?"

Damon's eyebrows furrowed as he exchanged a look with Bonnie. "Metaphorically speaking."

Professor Shane exhaled sharply, "Legend says that if a hunter is killed by that which it hunts, then that person will be cursed to walk the Earth in torment until..."

"Until?" Bonnie inisted.

"Until the new hunter is awakened and their legacy is passed on. They're called potentials."

Addie felt the blood drain from her face as all the facts hit her at once. Her conversation with Klaus over the summer the most obvious one.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Klaus nodded knowingly. "I believe your brother has other Gilbert traits. I've traced back your paternal family history back to 1100AD. Every now and then something odd shows up in the gene pool. If there is a birth of a son and daughter in the direct lineage that leads to you, the sister typically has poisonous blood."_

 _"What does the son have anything to do with it? What's, uh, what's wrong with my brother?" Addie pressed, shaking her head in confusion._

 _"As of now? Absolutely nothing; your brother is perfectly normal."_

 _She looked at him warily, shifting uncomfortably on the chaise. "And as of not now?"_

 _Unconcerned, he answered, "Your brother will most likely remain perfectly normal."_

 _"Most likely? What is that suppose to mean?"_

 _"There are six billion people in the world. Of those six billion people only five should concern you if you're so worried about your brother. One of them dies and your brother kills a vampire it is possible that he turn into the Hulk. He'll be stronger, faster, and have a thirst to kill vampires. Think of it as an upgrade. On the whole, Jeremy has a 99% chance of remaining as an unremarkable, average human," Klaus explained._

* * *

Klaus had even called Jeremy a "potential hunter."

Addie wasn't sure when Professor Shane had left the room but she was brought back to reality when Bonnie asked, "How are we supposed to find a potential hunter?"

"Yeah, about that," Damon muttered darkly, going through the contacts on his phone.

"No!" Addie cried, slamming her hand over the glowing screen.

Bonnie's mouth hung open in surprise.

"Addie, do you have _any_ other potential hunters lying around?" Damon asked bluntly as the answer to their problem was obvious.

"I'm just saying we need to think about the consequences before we act! Either Elena walks around in torment-"

"Stabbing people like you and your brother in the neck," added Damon.

"Or," Addie emphasized, intent to continue as if he had not interrupted, "Jeremy turns into some _Hulk_ , vampire-killing machine. Mind you, the majority of people I care about are now vampires!"

"Jeremy is a potential Hunter?" exclaimed Bonnie. "How come I didn't know any of this?"

"I'm sure he won't kill the good vampires, Ads."

"OK, let's say he doesn't. We still need him to kill an innocent vampire to _awaken_ him!" Addie snapped back.

"And your qualm is about killing a vampire, who, I can almost guarantee, has killed someone innocent?" Damon frowned. They didn't have time for Addie to be picky with her morals. "I repeat: you can't save everyone."

"There's a difference between inaction and endorsing murder. I'm also not onboard with the idea of changing my brother!"

Damon's eyes repeatedly flashed between his phone and Addie. He wanted to respect Addie's concerns and opinions but protecting Elena felt like a much more pressing matter. So furious that she was unable to find words, Addie spluttered at him as Damon called Jeremy.

His eyes were icy cold as they met hers. Softly he said, "This time you don't get to make the decision."

Addie scoffed in disbelief and stormed out of the room. She refused to take part in this.

* * *

With her laptop propped open on her stomach, Addie lay in her bed as she tried to focus on something she hadn't been able to do since the accident: songwriting. The water depths under Wickery Bridge had not only destroyed nearly all the music she had created but her passion for making it. However, as her life became more hectic and the emotion became more intense, she found that she needed a way to relieve them and running wasn't enough. She had run for three hours after leaving the school and it still hadn't been enough to clear her head.

She had not yet found the motivation to work in the studio her dad had made for her in the attic to record real instruments. Addie had used a portable keyboard to lay down the piano base for the song forming in mind. She had mixing headphones plugged in to her laptop as she worked on adding drums electronically. Under her breath she mumbled possible lyrics disjointedly, "I let it get this far but you had me from the start. It feels like a lifetime in fact."

Addie jumped as her cell vibrated against her hip. Grumbling, she checked the text message from Stefan, who had been give her a constant stream of updates through the night. First he lost Elena in his effort to retrieve her from Klaus. So he sent _Damon_ after her; that had really pissed Addie off. She'd tried to wash away her anger until she used up all the hot water but it had worked. Then Klaus offered up his "unsired" hybrid for slaughter in exchange for a date with Caroline. Jeremy killed the hybrid and his mark grew. He was a Hunter, despite the warning texts and voicemails Addie had left for him. Stefan tried calling Damon to see the status with Elena but his call went straight to voicemail.

If Damon's phone was turned off, there was nothing Addie could do to reach him. It wasn't like he was just avoiding Stefan. The first rays of dawn shown through Addie's window. She was sure Damon would be there, or the boarding house, soon. Addie placed her computer back on the desk and unlocked her door. Damon was welcome to come in. She tried to go to sleep but her ears constantly pricked at any little noise. The first person home was Jeremy, as was obvious by his footsteps. Addie knew she needed to check on him after chopping off a hybrid's head but she was still too angry with him for not even acknowledging her concerns to be sympathetic at the moment.

Suddenly the bed shifted, causing Addie to jump. Her wide eyes met Damon's. She shoved at him lightly as she scowled, "You scared me."

"Clearly," he said, a small, tired smile tugging at his lips. "I didn't mean to."

"Is Elena ok?" Addie questioned as she tucked her arm under a pillow, settling back down where she lay a couple of feet from him.

Damon frowned at this move but chalked it up to one of anxiety or concern. "She's asleep. The curse is broken. She'd taken off her daylight ring and tossed it over Wickery Bridge. That's where I found her just as the sun was coming up. I had to dive into the water with her _and_ find her daylight ring. It wasn't a pleasant experience."

"Well, thank you for saving my sister's life," Addie mumbled obligatory.

"You're mad at me." It wasn't a question; he'd said it as fact.

Her free shoulder rose in a noncommittal shrug. "I'm mad at the situation. Why did _you_ have to be the one to save her? Wasn't that Stefan's job?"

Damon didn't have answer for that. He just knew that Elena needed him so he went. Stefan hadn't been able to get through to her but he had and that made him feel _good_.

Barely audible, Addie confessed, "I'm not happy, Damon."

"It's understandable that you're depressed with everything you been going through," Damon said gently, reaching out to stroke her cheek. Addie brushed his hand away before he could make contact.

"I'm not happy with you. With our relationship," she clarified, holding her breath.

He rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly as he slowly admitted, "We have been through a rough patch."

"It's more than a rough patch. It's this life. It's this supernatural, crazy shit. My sister's a vampire. My boyfriend is a vampire. Now, my brother is a freaking Hunter and I don't even know the full repercussions of that! And I have the Original Hybrid nut who wants me for some unknown reason. It's stupid, ridiculous crap. I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the next crazy thing to happen. There is no peace in this life," Addie rushed out in a single breath.

"Those are circumstances that surround our relationship," Damon said slowly, carefully choosing his words. "They shouldn't impact whether or not you're happy with me."

Addie chewed on her lip, uncomfortable with these kinds of talks.

"Ads, I can hear the wheels turning in your head. Say whatever is on your mind," grumbled Damon, growing impatient. He knew what was coming.

"Your feelings for Elena have changed since she became a vampire," Addie said directly.

Damon popped his knuckles as he debated on how to answer that. Clearly he stated, "I have not, nor would I ever, cheat on you."

"I never accused you of that; but you can't deny your feelings have changed," she said simply.

"It's nowhere near how I feel about you, though," Damon assured her. As an afterthought he added, "I don't even think I have any romantic feelings."

"The fact that you can't tell me that for certain is what bothers me, Damon. Elena had romantic feelings for you before she turned. I _know_ those have been magnified since she turned," Addie fretted in despair.

"Do you know that or are you making assumptions," Damon challenged wisely.

"I'm checking the facts," Addie bit back sharply. "She's turning to you when she should be turning to Stefan during this transition. You got through to her when she was going crazy, not Stefan. She trusts you in a way that she doesn't trust him."

Damon's lips pressed into a thin, annoyed line. He knew she was right. "What do you want me to do about it, Addie? I can't control how she feels."

She exhaled softly in resignation, "I know. You also can't control how I feel. I'm _furious_ at both of you because I'm insanely jealous and insecure. The only reason I'm not constantly wondering if you've cheated on me is because I know you can't lie." In reluctant vulnerability she admitted, "Instead, I'm just in a constant fear that your feels are romantic or hers will get too strong and you _will_ cheat."

Damon studied Addie critically; the fine lines between her furrowed brows, her lips tipped into a slight frown, the dark blue eyes that were slightly bloodshot, and her fingers that clawed at the blanket, as she attempted to keep from running them through her hair. She was anxious and upset but it wasn't due to jealousy. Her jealousy was very similar to his own over Klaus. She wouldn't let it get to their relationship until he screwed up and gave her a reason to.

"Bullshit, Addison Gilbert. That's not the reason you're breaking up with me," Damon called out bluntly when he finally caught her darting eyes.

"I never said I was breaking up with you," she whispered, her eyes fixating on the hollow of his throat.

Damon scoffed humorlessly, "No. I'm not a mind reader but I'm not stupid. At least tell me the truth."

Addie was silent for several minutes as she struggled to find the words. She knew the truth; she just didn't want Damon to know. She leaned into his touch when she felt his fingers brushing over her cheek, not having the strength to push him away.

A memory came to Damon as he watched Addie battle with herself. He had been furious with her when she had chosen to stay with Klaus in Chicago and they had broken up. It was just a couple days after she had returned to town with Ripper Stefan and Barbie Klaus that they made up.

* * *

 _***Flashback***_

 _Damon's neck stiffened as he resisted the burning desire to kiss her. He wasn't sure if he hated or loved how well Addie understood him. It made him feel vulnerable and exposed but it was somehow comforting to know that she hadn't run off yet. The only annoying thing was that he couldn't read her as well._

 _His eyes slipped closed and he murmured, "How do you only see the best in me?"_

 _"I just said you make a lot of mistake," she giggled._

 _"You know what I mean. How did you pick me? How did I get so lucky? How did I screw it up?"_

 _"I drew your name out of a hat. You won the lottery," she joked, her voice sounding serious before truthfully answering, "And you got overprotective and jealous."_

 _"Is it too late now to say sorry and have it make a difference?" Damon whispered tentatively._

 _Her lips pursed, almost brushing his. That wasn't an actual apology. "You can try and see."_

 _He sighed and rolled his eyes. Sometimes he really didn't like Addie's games and wished she would just give him a straight answer. This time she deserved to put him through the wringer, though. His hand cupped her cheek and his eyes opened to meet hers as he professed, "Ads, I love you. I'm in love with you. You are my life and world. I don't know if you've noticed but I go a little crazy when it comes to you. You also drive me a little crazy but I like that. When I saw you in Chicago I flipped. I couldn't tell down from up. Two words kept screaming over every other thought I had: why and run. You were supposed to be safe. I know you hate when I get all alpha male but, love, it's always going to be my job to make sure you're safe. You'll be 90 years-old and I'm gonna be doing checks on the staff and compelling them into taking extra care of you. Don't laugh. It's your fault for introducing me to this kind of love," he said defensively when she started to chuckle._

 _"No, no. It's sweet, if a bit stalkerish."_

 _"To my credit, I wouldn't have to do stalkerish things if you were cool with marrying me for a lifetime and adopting kids if you-." Damon inhaled sharply, realizing the deep inner thoughts he only let himself consider on the darkest of nights after a couple of bottles that he was confessing to. He turned his head away but could still feel her eyes burning into him as his face flushed. After holding his breath for as long as he could, he slowly, loudly exhaled. "Can we just forget I ever said that?"_

 _"Is that what you want?" Addie muttered, a trembling hand pushing through her hair._

 _Apparently not. If she was going to stay broken up with him over this, he might as well be honest. "Part of me wants to be a selfish bastard and turn you when you're old enough and have you for forever," he mumbled. More clearly he continued, "Mostly, I just want you to be happy and I know that would not make you happy. But see, before we even started this, we put a timer on it. We had to end this in 15 years, well, now we technically have less than 14 years since your 16th birthday has passed, all because of your biological clock. No offense, Addie, but sometimes you really overthink, over analyze, and overplan things. You have always hated the idea of having kids; you plan on borrowing Jeremy and Elena's kids on the weekend and returning them when the time for actual parenting comes around. Let's look at the fact that you don't like the idea of marriage but refuse to have kids unless you can raise them in a two parent house; I don't exactly how that works and I've never questioned you because, hey, it's you and Addie logic doesn't make sense. However, I was stupid and desperate enough to agree to ignore the fact that you want none of that but still let you dictate that we end, no matter what, on your 30th birthday so you could have two years to find someone and three years for an engagement period and time to get pregnant. We have a fucking pact to break up so you can possibly have kids that you currently hate the idea of by 35. I'm sorry, Ads, but it's a little ridiculous," scoffed Damon._

 _"So yes," he sighed defeatedly, "I'm sorry if I think breaking up if we're good together and making each other happy is stupid. Especially if we reach that point and you're still undecided, And especially when it's something I can give you. I mean, it doesn't have to be adoption. We have the money for in vitro if you want to do the whole pregnancy experience. The last time we discussed this you called a baby a parasite, actually a blood sucking leech to be more precise and oh, my god would you please say something!" he exclaimed, burying his face in both hands. Her silence was deafening. Damon felt like he was just digging himself into a deeper and deeper pit that would cave in as soon as he tried to climb out of it. He had to shut up before he went into all the reasons as to why it made sense._

 _Addie frowned as she had been stuck on one thought since the beginning. She looked up at the ceiling and said the seven words that seemed to be stuck on loop, "Our kids would be so fucked up."_

 _"What?" Damon said in confusion, not expecting that kind of response._

 _"Consider it," she said in a very neutral, matter-of-fact voice. "With my genes I would be passing down ten types of crazy, some of them actual medical problems, others just as my… eccentricities. How do you raise a kid in the supernatural? 'Billy, I know your father barely looks five years older than you but you still have to listen to him when he says you're grounded!'"_

 _He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked, "You don't think a kid would respect my authority?"_

 _She rolled her eyes and lightly smack his hard stomach with the back of her hand. "You can't compel your child, Damon. Nor can you threaten them with physical abuse."_

 _"I know that! Little Billy could still be 40 and know to respect his much younger looking father."_

 _"Mhm. Then how do you explain to your grandson and your great-grandson? I mean, when does it stop? I'm not convinced it's even a sane or safe idea to raise a kid aware of the supernatural world considering all the hell and trouble that's come into my life from it."_

 _Damon slipped his hand under the dark top she wore and rubbed back and forth above the hem of his boxers. She untensed a little, sinking further into him. Calm and gently he told her, "In your life's defense, it wouldn't be so hazardous if your sister wasn't a doppelganger and you weren't born in Mystic Falls."_

 _"Thanks." she said dryly. Addie felt the need to point out, "You haven't apologized yet."_

 _"That's it on this subject?" he asked in mild surprise._

 _"Damon, we lasted, what? Five, six months before we broke up? I'm not discussing one day short of 14 years into the future. I'm getting bored," she informed him impatiently._

 _Whatever she wanted, whatever she wanted. He was hardly going to argue with her when he was trying to win her back. Where had he left off? "Right. So, you were in Chicago and my instincts to do anything I had to in order to protect you. You wouldn't listen to me when I said 'let's go' so I panicked and thought using our relationship would make you listen. When that didn't happen I became pretty pissed off and told Klaus we were broken up, meaning I went through on my threat. I wasn't listening to you when you were telling me why you had to stay and once you said you wanted to stay, I just saw red. It didn't occur to me that you were doing what you thought was the safest thing for everyone involved. I'm sorry, Addie. I should have listened to you from the start. I should have stopped and taken the time to understand you as well as you read me. I should have realized you were only staying with Klaus to protect everyone. I'm so sorry I broke up with you. Now that I've listened and heard your side I've realized just how colossal my mistake has been. Will you forgive me for being such an idiot?"_

 _She nodded against his shoulder. It was pathetic how easily she would accept his apology. Klaus may have held her hostage in the summer but Damon was the one who'd truly had her hostage, at least since she saved him from the fire. He had her by the heartstrings. Her emotions were so intertwined with him that it was disgusting. Addie hated that breaking up with him had left her so miserable that she was willing to take him back without a second thought. There was no doubt she would be happy with him again but how long would it be before the other shoe dropped and they broke up again._

 _Damon lightly kissed her forehead and begged, "I know you agreed to one chance. And I know I don't deserve another with a girl like you. Addie, you've gotta give me one more shot not to screw this up. Please, Ads. I miss you so much. I hate being together but not together. It just makes everything so much more painful. I can't hold you properly. I can't kiss you. I'm watching everything I say and I'm tense. Ads, you were the person I turned to when I'm tense. What am I supposed to do now?"_

 _"Hear me when I say this," Addie said firmly. If Damon was going to keep her emotionally hostage, she wasn't going to suffer like she had been nor was she going to be yo-yoed around. "You get one last try. You know I will only break up with you for cheating or abuse, otherwise I believe in sticking it out until it works out. So barring those two things, I will not break up with you until we agreed to." They could argue about the arrangement later. She continued warning, "The next time you end things, that's that. There will be no more third attempts, no getting back together. This is your last chance."_

 _***End flashback***_

* * *

"Addie, we had a pact that we'd break up when you turned 30. You said you believe in sticking it out until it works out, barring I don't cheat or abuse you. What's changed?" Damon asked gently as it all began to add up in his head. It had started with the little things - less random comments, less inside jokes, slightly smaller laughs and smiles but all those were nearly gone and replace with harsh sarcasm, emotional distance, isolation, more irritability and white lies. Addie was depressed.

"If you're going to be gone now or when I turn 30, I rather you be gone now," Addie declared, flinging her arm over her eyes despondently.

Gingerly Damon picked up Addie's arm and her eyes warily rolled to the side to meet his. Puzzled, he asked, " Didn't you just have a nightmare this morning and wake up _crying_ because I was gone?"

"Yes."

"And the solution is for me to leave now?"

"Yes."

"Sounds rationale," nodded Damon

Addie's lips twitched towards an encouraged grin. "I thought so."

Damon responded flatly, "I was being sarcastic."

"Ah. I was not."

"I know," Damon muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You over think and analyze and would come up with that as a perfectly reasonable response to-" He cut himself off before accusing her of being scared. Making Addie defensive wouldn't help the situation. He had to operate on her level if she was depressed. "For those of us who aren't as quick-witted, can you explain why it would make more sense for me to be gone now as opposed to when we originally agreed?"

"Face that way," Addie grumbled petulantly, pointing at the wall. At Damon's raised eyebrows she blushed, "I can't explain this and look at you."

Damon compromised, using his vamp speed to appear behind Addie, spooning her. He knew things were really bad when she didn't comment on his speeding or him finding a way to do exactly what she said, in a different way then she meant it.

"Damon, if we stay together, you're gone at 30. _If_ , and I'm not saying I want you to because i don't think I do, _if_ you were to take the Cure, you would die and be permanently gone from the world, which would be a tragedy. If you died before me that would be even worse. It would be extremely bad if you took the Cure and then we decided to break up when I'm 31 and you're _still dead,"_ Addie blew out in a rush.

"Inhale," Damon murmured in Addie's ear when he realized she was holding her breath. After a few seconds he prompted her to exhale. "Love, you can talk to me about these things. You don't have to let your thoughts spiral off on your own."

"They haven't spiralled off," Addie snapped. "It's all fact of what could _actually_ happen."

Damon placed placating, reassuring kisses on the back of her head as he pressed, "Why would you rather me be gone now then at 30, Ads?"

"It hurts less; 14 years of fewer fights, 14 fewer years of chaos, fewer memories," she whispered, her voice cracking on the last word.

He sighed, pressing his nose just below her ear. Addie was depressed.

"I see, at minimum, 14 more years of making up, of adventures, of new experiences," Damon whispered, wanting Addie to see the positives. "Times will hurt but it would be mostly good."

Addie instinctively smiled a little as her hand intertwined with Damon's. "I know it would be mostly happy because you are an amazing, protective, thoughtful, loving boyfriend. That's the problem," she said wistfully.

Propping himself up on his elbow, Damon looked down at Addie in confusion. "You're gonna have to explain that one to me slowly."

"It's easier to move on from the bad. To move on from 14 years of good with you? That's impossible. Let's be real, Damon. I could not lose you _in any fashion_ 14 years from now and then have any form of a functional relationship… or life," Addie mused.

Damon laid back down, slowly processing her words. He hadn't considered having a relationship past Addie. The only person he had a connection to was Ele- No. He didn't have any connections besides Addie. It would be like getting over Katherine all over again, except _Addie_ had been the whole reason he'd been strong enough to do that.

"Technically, any relationship you could have potentially have with anyone could be good and then end. Are you just going to run from commitment forever?" Damon challenged, recalling having a similar conversation before they started dating.

Addie let out a loud, dry snort, "Realistically, probably. I love _you_ , Damon, but I don't like being dependent on you or anyone else for feeling safe or happy or okay."

Tension in his jaw slightly eased as Damon understood Addie had confessed the real truth, likely without realizing it. She was scared.

"I will admit, our relationship did risk developing an unhealthy codependency," he said pensively.

Addie's eyes narrowed to little slits as she mentally reviewed his words and confirmed, "Did you use the past tense?"

His hand slowly dragged along his face as he exhaled softly. "Addie, I will always love you. You are my once in a lifetime and happily ever after," Damon declared, cupping her cheek. " _But,_ I'm not going to fight you if you want to break up." Her puzzled face made it clear that his words were contrary to everything else he had ever done. His voice softened as he explained, "I know you promised me, reassured me you wouldn't break up with me and you're probably expecting me to hold you to that."

Though it was true, Addie did her best to keep her expression neutral. She was glad she wasn't going to have to fight him but she wanted to see where he was going with this.

Damon continued gently, "You have reasonably pointed out that it would be less painful for you if our relationship ended now. My goal has always been for you to be happy and safe. If this will make you happier in the long run, I will do it. As far as your safety…"

"As far as my safety?" Addie prodded hesistentantly, surprised at how reasonable Damon was being.

"I supposed I will have to put my faith into finding a mystical cure to keep Klaus away from you if I'm going to have to protect you from afar," he decided reluctantly.

Her eyebrows arched speculatively. "Can you do that?"

"I might have to give Klaus a house call or two," he said with one of his winning, cheeky smiles. Neither of them noticed that it wasn't genuine.

"Thank you," she whispered, pulling him into a hug. She didn't feel the great catharsis she had expected but it would come with time. This was the rationale thing.

Damon returned the hug and swiftly left the room. He leaned against the door as he fought for breath. His fingers clawed at the fabric of his chest; it felt like his heart was going to burst. A flame of bile burned through his throat.

 _Idiot!_

Those hadn't been his words! He couldn't control the words coming out of his mouth. Damon would never _allow_ Addie to break up with him because she was scared and obviously not thinking clearly. And he would _never_ , _ever_ walk away without a fight. He never wanted to leave Addie. He didn't believe ending their relationship was in her best interest nor that he could protect her from afar.

His mind and heart knew what he wanted to say and do. He needed to fix things with Addie. Gathering his wits, he returned to her room. Damon was terrified to see he had opened Elena's door but couldn't stop his feet from entering.

* * *

 **A/N PLEASE READ: Hello, my amazing, wonderful readers! I cannot express how grateful I am to you guys, particularly if you're still here after the insane hiatus. This chapter did not go as I had planned and I think that has a lot to do with why I have been on hiatus. Following the suicide of my sister, whom Addie is based on, and the suicide of my brother and mother last year, I felt I needed to seek further mental health treatment and have been in the hospital Currently, I'm taking a bit of time off of everything stress relate to focus on things I enjoy, one of which is writing. In regards to Addie and Damon, what would you guys like to see? Do you guys remember the plot of season 4 well enough that I can quickly summarize it if Addie isn't in the scene? I have a feeling that based on where her character is at, she wouldn't be in a lot of season four. To cover it, I would have to project the story from someone else's point of view (probably Damon's - there will be some from his point of view anyway but not many). I'm trying to cut down on filler information to maximize plot. I could also include links to the transcripts of the episodes that I'm working off of if that would help. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!**


	7. Chapter 7

Damon sat in Elena's window seat, the morning rays bursting through. The house was silent as all the Gilberts slept. He had expected Addie to cry or be restless after breaking up with him but he had be able to pick up on her breathing patterns and the sound of her heartbeat; she had gone straight to sleep. He doubted she even realized she was emotionally shutting down and shutting him out. Jeremy's room had been further away from Elena's nd he had been harder to hear but Damon had still heard him tossing and turning in the night. There was a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that awakening his inner Hunter was going to bite them in the ass, as Addie suspected. She was usually right about those things. It had been easy to sit in Elena's room, watching her sleep peacefully for hours. It didn't feel _right_ like being with Addie; it was more of a compulsion.

Out of the corner of his eye Damon saw movement from Elena's bed. She was looking at her daylight ring as it sparkled in the sun.

"Fished it out of the river for you," he commented dryly, moving to sit on the edge of her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"My head's clear. I can remember everything, but not like I lived it, like it was a really bad dream," Elena said, slow and groggy. She paused as she recalled, "You saved me. Thank you."

Damon's eyebrows knitted together as he looked down to where she had clasped his hand. She was a vampire; her skin temperature was too similar to his own. The burn of Addie's touch was what he wanted.

"I just can't believe that I almost-"

"You weren't yourself," interrupted Damon.

"Yeah, but if it wasn't for you," emphasized Elena, brown eyes catching light blue ones.

Damon looked down at their hands again and Elena's gaze followed. Gently Damon began rubbing circles over the back of her hand. Addie's hands were small and fit with his better.

Damon exhaled sharply as he pushed aside his pride, "I'm about to take a very high, annoying road and tell you something that I should have seen coming a long time ago. Addie's depressed."

The corners of Elena's mouth dipped. It was too early in the morning for this kind of conversation. Plus, she was the one who had almost burned herself alive less than 12 hours ago. She shook her head in denial and muttered, "She has a great boyfriend. She's socializing rather than isolating. I mean, I think she's fine but if you say she's not…."

Damon snorted derisively. "Hanging out with me doesn't count as socializing; actually she's been shutting me out. She's been doing the same shady shit as Stefan and working with Klaus. She doesn't hang out with Jeremy and Bonnie or even Caroline anymore. I rarely notice her truly smile. There are a lot more tears." A small wistful smile crossed his lips as he recalled fonder times and asked, "Elena, what would you consider a defining personality trait of Addie?"

The answer was instantaneous. "She's a stubborn pain in the ass who gives people shit about things that she doesn't really care about just to amuse herself."

"Exactly. It's one of the main reasons we clicked and I fell in love with her." His smile faltered as he pointed out, "You haven't realized she doesn't really do that anymore?"

Elena licked her lips nervously, "What you say sounds right but I don't want to believe it."

"Elena, she's shutting herself out," Damon said firmly, determined to make her understand. "She's been withdrawing for awhile and i think last night, when we had to do some things she didn't agree with to save you, that was the straw that broke the camel's back."

"Wha-"

"We had to awaken a Hunter to break the curse. Jeremy was the only option. Addie didn't agree with it. She stormed off and refused to help," Damon explained quickly, foreseeing her question. "When everything was settled and I got back here and talked to Addie she expressed how much she doesn't want anything to do with the supernatural anymore and just wants a normal life. She ended up breaking up with me," he finished defeatedly.

"Oh, Damon," Elena sighed sympathetically, resting her hand on his face. She didn't notice his jaw tense under her touch. "Why would she do that?"

Damon popped his neck, giving himself a reason to remove Elena's touch. "Well, per Addie, we're a doomed relationship and she would be happier if we broke up now."

"That sounds like her depressed reasoning," Elena affirmed reluctantly.

"She also doesn't like how my relationship with you has changed since you became a vampire despite the fact that I've assured her it's nothing to worry about," Damon continued to list matter-of-factly. It was easier to deal with the breakup if he stayed emotionally detached.

Looking at him through her eyelashes, Elena asked demurly, "Has our relationship changed?"

"I'm not discussing that! _I love Addie_ ," insisted Damon. Calmly he continued, "I think the real reason is because she feels like she is relying on me to feel safe and happy." _And she doesn't want to place that trust in anyone or anything,_ he thought to himself.

Elena giggled. Horrified, she quickly covered her mouth. "Sorry. That's just so _Addie._ Do you know how many years it was a battle for my parents and then Jenna to convince Addie to take her medications and to continue to take them? She sees them as a weakness. Do you know if she's taking them?"

Damon knew about Addie's mental health concerns from the moment he met her but he had never tried to center their relationship around it. She had a pill pack and would take her medications each morning, keeping one at the boarding house and one at her home so she'd never be without them. She also had medication for insomnia. He didn't like to hound her about her medication. He did look at the packs to see if the days lined up.

"As far as I know."

Elena picked at invisible lint on her bed as she wrestled with her thoughts. Despite her own feelings towards Damon, it was a bad sign for Addie to have broken up with him. Damon was correct that she was depressed. However, whenever Addie was really depressed before, there had always been someone else there to manage it, whether it was her parents or Jenna. Whenever Elena tried to intervene, Addie would just get angrier.

"I'm not fit to raise someone like Addie," Elena mumbled, her tear filled eyes meeting Damon's. "What do I do?"

He'd been thinking about that while everyone else slept. "I don't think singling Addie out is going to work. She already feels different. What about suggesting that you, Jeremy and Addie are all going to start therapy to discuss the change in the family dynamics?"

"So we can discuss me being a vampire and whatever it means for Jeremy to be a Hunter? I think we'll all be put in the psychiatric hospital," Elena quipped bitterly.

"We can compel the therapist. _Or_ we let Addie figure it out on her own. We be there for her without smothering her."

"Addie was sent to therapy for years and never talked," Elena muttered. "If we let her figure it out on her own, how do we know she's not getting worse?"

A bitter taste filled Damon's mouth as he grumbled, "I think I know someone willing to lookout for Addie that she would be willing to talk to. It's not ideal but it will have to work."

* * *

"You look like shit," Jeremy grumbled sleepy as he dropped a large bowl of cereal onto the kitchen table, causing milk to slosh out the sides.

"Didn't sleep well," Addie mumbled, stifling a yawn as she gazed into her steaming mug of coffee.

Around a large bite of corn flakes Jeremy agreed, "Me either. Kept dreaming I was playing Call of Duty."

"That sounds more like a night of eternal bliss for you," she mused, taking a small sip. "You love kicking my ass on Call of Duty."

"Yeah, except you know how you can make it so you only attack zombies? Well, I was only attacking vampires."

Addie's head tilted quizzically as he studied him, the color slightly draining from her face.

Jeremy shrugged as he shoveled another enormous spoonful into his mouth. "It wasn't bad but it was exhausting. It feels like I didn't even sleep."

"Perhaps it's natural that you dream about murdering vampires right after killing one," Addie muttered, unable to hide the slight sneer in her voice.

His spoon clattered loudly against the metal bowl as he looked at his little sister. "Addie, I'm sorry I ignored you last night. You know me killing that hybrid was the only way to break the Hunter's Curse."

"No, we don't know that. We also don't know if you're going to become a crazed vampire killer like Connor," Addie spat. Huffing, she grabbed her coffee and left the room.

* * *

Damon sat in a corner booth of the Mystic Grill, stewing of the information Matt Donovan had just given him. Creepy Professor Shane had been making phone calls to the Pastor Young everyday for a month leading up to the explosion. There had been an exchange of ten calls on the day of the explosion. That was fishy. And he knew all about the Hunter's Curse. And he was supposed to be helping Bonnie access her witchy powers. Damon didn't trust him.

The hair on the back of his neck raised as someone he trust even less slid into the booth across from him.

"You have some nerve asking me to meet with you after that stunt you and your brother pulled last night," Klaus said, his English accent crisp and cool.

"I blame most of that on Stefan. He was the one who let Elena escape while you safely held her. He was the one who suggested Caroline distract you. He was the one who suggested you offer up one of your unsired hybrids. All I did was save Elena so you still have a chance of turning her human again," Damon retorted just as calmly. He didn't want to fight with Klaus. He needed to reason with the Original Bastard. He needed to work with him.

Klaus's long fingers steepled on the table as he studied the younger man. "Who finally told you about the cure?"

"Stefan did. He spoke of it in front of Addie and me, assuming I had told Addie about it. She only spoke to me about it when she knew I already knew. Addie didn't break your trust," Damon reassured him quickly.

A satisfied smirk played at Klaus's lips. "I never truly thought she would."

"I don't get it," Damon growled in annoyance. "Why does she have such faith in you?"

Klaus gave Damon a knowing grin as he taunted, "Problems in paradise?"

"I know Connor Jordan had full-blood sisters. You found them, didn't you?" accused Damon, knowing the answer. "You're using them as test subjects before moving on to Addie."

Klaus made a noncommittal noise. "It is convenient for her that I happened to stumble upon them."

"And if Elena were to take the cure and become human again, would that stall you from turning to Addie?" Damon inquired.

Klaus ran a finger slowly along his chin as he said deliberately, "I'm curious as to what it is you think I want with Addison."

"Witches are all about balance in nature. They created The Brotherhood of the Five to destroy vampires. I'm guessing there's a Sisterhood of the Five to preserve vampires or some bullshit," Damon scowled in disgust.

"Did Addison come up with that?" It wasn't quite right but it wasn't exactly wrong.

Through gritted teeth Damon snarled, "Addie is sick and tired of being put through the ringer to try and figure out your bullshit. She's not playing guessing games anymore. She's given up. You've destroyed her will to fight."

Klaus leaned back in the booth with a sort of smug satisfaction. He knew what had caused Addie to lose her spunk and it wasn't Klaus's fault. "I'll admit that Addison is not playing up to her usual standards but I wouldn't count her out."

"If we get the cure for Elena, will you leave Addie alone?" Damon offered. He didn't like the way Klaus's eyes twinkled.

Klaus bared his teeth at Damon in a sneer, "That would have been acceptable had my hybrids not been working to become unsired. Besides, how fast are you going to get me my cure?"

"How long will you give us?"

Klaus considered this for a moment and shrugged. "I'm waiting to see how my experiments on Connor's sisters go. Addie is the master plan. She is what legends have spoke of. If I have more sired hybrids at my disposal, I could possibly be persuaded to wait on using Addie."

"You know you would have to kill me before I ever let you use or hurt her," Damon hissed dangerously.

"You know and I know that I will eventually use Addison for what I want. She has far too many potentials. We both know that Addison would be far less willing to cooperate if I had to kill you. Also, as much as it pains me, we both know that Addison is safer with you looking out for her. I believe that it is safe to surmise that I am not going to kill you as long as you living is useful to my endgame," Klaus laid out as a compelled waitress poured him a glass of wine.

"Addie doesn't want my protection," Damon replied curtly, slamming back his fifth tumbler of whiskey.

A single eyebrow arched in interest as Klaus processed this. He wasn't surprised. After Elena had turned it had only been a matter of time until Addie couldn't take the tension of the sire bond. He wondered if she had realized that was what it was.

"She broke up with you."

"She's tired of dealing with supernatural nonsense, which you play a large part in. I asked you to meet to see if you would back off."

"Give you some time to focus on Elena and the cure?" Klaus checked, fighting a smile.

Damon gave a half shrug. "It would be easier to focus on that if I'm not constantly worried you're going to try something with Addie."

"Will you be backing off?" challenged Klaus.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Damon bit back tersely.

"I can only imagine having a vampire boyfriend adds to some of the supernatural nonsense. Besides, in a town like this, someone needs to be watching her back."

"I never said I wouldn't be watching out for her; I'll just be doing it from a distance. She has a strong support network. Bonnie, Jeremy, Elena, Stefan, Caroline - we'll all be there."

"And you're all supernatural," Klaus pointed out. The contents of his wine glass swirled slowly as he savored knowingly, "Admit it, Damon. You're here because Addie doesn't trust you anymore. She isn't open with you. You need someone she can turn to who isn't going to let her die while you focus your attentions on Elena."

Damon quickly released the tumbler in his hand as he heard it start to crack. It pissed him off to no end that Klaus was right. He needed Addie protected from herself and she wasn't willing to let him in.

"What's your price," Damon seethed softly.

"As long as I see you're actively working to cure Elena, my services are free," Klaus decided, opening his hands in a gesture of good faith. To further antagonize Damon he added, "You know I find Addison _fascinating."_

* * *

Sunken, dark blue eyes stared back at Addie as she gazed into the mirror. Her face was still flush from the hot shower though the steam had clear from the room long ago. Mentally she had to slap herself back to reality. Lately she had been catching herself spiraling into disturbing thoughts or trailing off into nothing. This was one of the times when she thought of nothing. She reached for her cinnamon toothpaste and began her obsessive routine. Wet the toothbrush, cover end to end with paste, wet brush again, brush tongue, divide mouth into six sections, divide each section into three areas, brush each area in a circular motion on a slight angle from left to right eleven times. Elena came into the shared bathroom as Addie was working on the first area of her third section and caused her to lose count. She had to start the entire processes over again.

"Sorry," Elena muttered, realising her sister was about to repeat brushing her teeth. It was one of Addie's many quirky behaviors.

"It's fine," Addie mumbled before putting the brush back into her mouth.

In silence the brushed their teeth together, almost like normal sisters, Elena realized. Elena finished first, not having to go through the meticulous counting process. She pulled her hair into a braid as she continued to watch her sister in the mirror, unable to stop obsessing about the fact that Addie was depressed. How had she missed it?

"You've been staring at me," Addie accused as she put her toothbrush back in the holder.

"I-um- I -"

"Stop," interrupted Addie, holding her hand up. "If you're going to do some big sister heart-to-heart apology about almost killing yourself, I don't need it. I know you were compelled by the Hunter's Curse. You should be apologizing to Jeremy, someone else's life you've ruined. He's now a Hunter because he had to save you because you decided to listen to Damon and kill Connor Jordan."

Flabbergasted, Elena stared at her little sister. Appalled she whispered, "You still hate me so much for Mom and Dad."

Addie nodded slowly. "And Jenna. Uncle John. Grams. Jeremy being a hunter. I know it's not all your fault. You can't help you're a doppelganger or that we were born into this psycho town. But you could never have gone to that party. Mom and Dad never had to be on that bridge. You never had to listened to Damon and end up activating a curse that has now potentially ruined Jeremy."

"It's just as much your fault Jeremy's a Hunter. It's your fault I'm a vampire," Elena snarled back venomously, knowing the moments the words flew past her lips she didn't mean them.

Addie knew that. Elena had refused to keep driving to Damon so Addie could say goodbye to him as he was dying. Elena had been selfish and insisted on driving back to Stefan. They fought over the steering wheel and wrecked. They had only wrecked because Elena had insisted on fighting Addie in her own car but Addie was still smart enough to not grab the wheel, even in the midst of an anxiety attack.

"It may be my fault that you're a vampire but I'm not dumb enough to listen to Damon when he tells me to kill someone," Addie snapped as sh exited the bathroom, making sure to lock the door.

She double-checked that her bedroom door and window were locked. Damon could break in if he wanted but she doubt he would. She wanted to make it obvious he wasn't welcomed. Though, she also doubted he would even come by.

Addie reached into the top of her closet and pulled out an old shoebox. Flipping open the lid she stared at the myriad of pill bottles. She didn't _need_ to sleep with Damon for a restful night's sleep or to keep away the nightmares; it just made it alot easier. Something about lying next to him calmed to racing thoughts that kept her up. Addie hated to admit that she had become reliant on Damon as much as she had previously become reliant on sleeping pill. At least the sleeping pills would never leave her. She would build up a tolerance to one after a few weeks and have to rotate them out but there was always an option. Besides, she didn't always need the pill; there were weeks, even months she could go with barely any sleep. She selected a low dose of her anxiety medication to slow the spiraling thoughts of guilt and anger and hate that was building towards herself for lashing out at Elena and a moderate level of her sleeping pill.

As Addie drifted off to sleep she couldn't help but reflect on how _numb_ she felt about her breakup with Damon as opposed to devastated. It was nice.

* * *

"Keep up, kid," Jeremy taunted, briefly looking over his shoulder to see Addie about twenty feet behind him. "Aren't you some track star?"

Addie's teeth ground together as she pumped her legs harder and faster, slightly closing the gap. While Addie had told herself and Jeremy that she had enjoyed him joining her on her morning runs for the past several days, it wasn't _natural_. And it was most certainly miserable.

She missed a breath, and her knees wobbled, but Addie managed to keep upright. "Stop," she croaked, her voice barely audible. She ran a few more feet, slowing her pace to cool down and called out louder, "Jeremy!"

Fifty feet ahead, Jeremy's feet stilled as he turned and faced her. He was barely winded but drenched in sweat. He scoffed, "You giving up on me?"

Addie fought back a scowl as she pointed to her wrist to indicate the time. She stretched her arms above her head to breathe in deeper. Through a yawn she managed, "You. Miss Mystic Falls Pageant."

Jeremy groaned loudly and whined, "Why do I have to help set up?"

"Because the Grill is supplying the booze and you work for the Grill," Addie said slowly. It wasn't like Jeremy wasn't being paid for his time.

"How come you don't have to go?" he scowled.

"Because I paid my debt to mother when I participated last year and am no longer obligated to pageantry duties. You wouldn't have had to go if you hadn't agreed to be April's date."

"Alright," Jeremy conceded as he checked the time on his phone. "I do need to get in the shower. Race you back to the house?"

Addie shook her head, "I'm going to stay out here a little longer."

The woods fell silent as Jeremy's footfalls faded. Addie paced in a small clearing as she reflected on the change in her brother since he had been _awaken._ Despite his height advantage, Addie had always been able to out run Jeremy. In fact, Jeremy hated cardio and preferred weight training. The past few days he'd been so amped up on energy that he had decided to invite himself on Addie's run. And he'd been getting faster and faster each day. He was also running farther. It made no sense that his speed and stamina was suddenly so much greater than hers.

Growling in frustration, Addie snapped a off a low hanging branch and cracked it over her knee. It wasn't _fair_ that Jeremy was better in something she had trained and worked on for years.

"What did that poor stick do to you?" came a low, gentle chuckle from behind.

Addie spun around on her heel, brandishing the stump of a branch like a sword. Seeing it was only Stefan who had snuck up on her she tossed the makeshift weapon aside.

"What are you doing?" she hesitated, taking in his wife-beater and jeans. His hair was slightly disarrayed and he was covered in a thin gleam of sweat despite the crisp air.

"I immagine much the same as you - working out my….," he waved his hand dismissively, unable to find the right word. When Addie raised a quizzical eyebrow at him he explained, "Elena told me you and Damon broke up."

"That son of a bitch," Addie cursed under her breath. She wonder just how long Damon had waited to run to Elena with his _good news_.

"While she was in the process of breaking up with me," Stefan added as a mock afterthought, his voice dripping with irony.

Addie's head snapped up at that. "What?" she snarled.

"Elena broke up with me after Damon saved her life," he spat bitterly, lying on the forest floor.

"She's lost her fucking mind," Addie mumbled to herself, instinctively holding Stefan's feet down with her knees as he began a frantic wave of sit-ups.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Stefan asked, his face inches from Addie's as he sat up.

"Anchored-feet sit-ups require more activation from your hip flexors than-" Addie cut herself off, realizing Stefan probably wasn't looking for the scientific answer. She shrugged innocently and answered meekly, "It's how I always trained with Damon."

Stefan snorted and Addie felt the small shift in the air. He meaningfully glanced to her lips as he said, "I'm sure Damon had motives besides activating your hip flexors."

Flushed with embarrassment, Addie quickly moved to lay on her back, she tapped Stefan's foot, indicating for him to rest his feet on hers. In tandem they began to do sit-ups.

"Elena hasn't lost her mind," Stefan huffed out eventually. "It was a mutual break up."

Addie didn't respond. She knew Stefan would speak when he wanted.

Stefan's elbows rested on his knees as his hands buried in his thick hair. His words were muffled as he looked down into his lap. "I knew she had feelings for him from the start. I pushed her to Damon when I was the Ripper. Changing into a vampire magnified everything she ever felt for him. Elena all but admitted that this vampire version of her is darker and it's changed who and what she wants. She agreed with me when I told her I couldn't do this anymore."

Addie did a final sit-up and then slammed back into the ground, causing a dull ache in her head. She laughed humorlessly as she clasped her hands over her eyes. "That doesn't make sense. If all feelings a magnified tenfold when someone becomes a vampire, her love for you have been amplified like, thus blocking out her feelings for Damon just as much as before."

Stefan's lips twitched toward the first hint of a smile in days. "Addie, a new vampire isn't a math formula and emotions definitely aren't; I don't think everything is necessarily equally heightened."

"I know they aren't; I could figure out math formula," she grumbled bitterly. Her lips pursed as she thought hard. "Say this new, _dark_ Elena wants a _darker_ guy. Fine. That doesn't explain why _Damon's_ feelings have changed; he's not a new vampire."

"Is that why you guys broke up?" Stefan asked gently. "I've seen Damon revert to his day drinking but he hasn't told me anything."

Addie's brows furrowed. She didn't want to tell him the truth but she didn't want to lie. "Damon did admit that his feelings have changed for Elena since she has become a vampire. He said he didn't think he felt anything romantic for her, though."

Stefan inhaled sharply through his teeth.

"Yep," Addie sighed, not bothering to emphasize the 'p' like she usually would. "He's always been able to firmly deny that before. I was able to figure out that Elena's feelings for him had changed. With both of them having changed feelings…"

"It's too much," Stefan finished for her, nodding in understanding.

He hadn't noticed a change in Damon's feelings but he hadn't spent as much time with him as Addie had. Stefan believed that much of what Damon had done for Elena he had really done _for_ Addie. Damon's devotionion to Addie had seemed so pure and true. A change in Damon's feelings made no sense.

Stefan moved to lay next to Addie, listening to the constant pounding of her heart. He had gone into the woods because he had wanted to rip into someone's throat and needed to be away from people. Addie's intoxicatingly sweet blood had called out to him. He knew he risked dying if he fed on her, making it safe to be around her. He hadn't expected to be so calmed by her presence; perhaps it was the shared sense of despair.

"Can I be honest?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Always."

"I don't think you and Damon are over."

* * *

Jeremy had woken up that morning with a knife and wooden stake in his hand. Into the stake he had carved the same symbol that had been on the wooden bullets Conner Jordan had used. Matt Donovan had come over to escort Elena to the pageant and Jeremy had discussed waking up with the knife with him. Her brother was concerned that he was turning into a psychotic killer like Alaric had because of the Gilbert ring. Matt thought it more likely it was a result of him being turned into a Hunter.

Professor Creepy had supplied a bunch of information on Hunters. Addie overheard Matt reading a line that said, "Newly awakened Hunters may not be fully conscious of their actions. Their sub-conscious pushes through until the urge becomes a basic instinct." Coupled with the vampire killing dreams, Addie was certain it all had to do with Jeremy being a new Hunter. When Matt had given Jeremy the option to either tell Elena about what was going on or he would, Jeremy said he would when he saw her.

All of this Addie was able to overhear from her room. Addie was grateful when everyone had left and the house was utterly silent. She had opened up a spiral to write down the chords of a melody floating in her head but there was no desire to do anything else. Sprawled on her bedroom floor, Addie stared blankly at the pale green glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling. She wasn't sure how long she had been there but judging by how the shadows had shifted from the sun, it had been hours. It was blissful for her mind to be completely blank for once. She thought of nothing - not of Damon nor Elena nor did she worry about what Klaus wanted from her, if Jeremy was in danger, the test she had in a few days on a book she had yet to read didn't even concern her. Her minds was numbingly empty.

Addie rolled onto her stomach as the sun began to hit her eyes as she groaned. Damon spoke of what it was like for vampires to turn off their humanity and she had seen Stefan without his. This wasn't like that but Addie knew what she was, or rather, _wasn't_ feeling.

Addie was able to recognize that she had unconsciously turned down the intensity of her emotions and feelings off when she had broken up with Damon. When she found out Stefan and Elena had also broken up, she had almost completely turned them off. Feeling numb and detached from reality, Addie _knew_ what she was supposed to feel but she couldn't. Or perhaps she wouldn't let herself. She'd never been sure which it was. The first time she emotionally went "offline", as she referred to it, it had been right after her parents had died. It took a few days for her emotions to come back on but when they did, it had been brutal. It was the first time Addie hadn't been able to control her temper enough to keep from getting into a physical brawl with Elena. She also destroyed family photos and smashed a computer because the feels were just _too much_ to handle.

Scowling, Addie forced herself to turn on her laptop to try and work on her music. Making music was a way for her to let the surplur of her emotions out safely. Perhaps it could be a way for her to safely try to tap into them.

As she transposed the melody she had scribbled to her computer using an electronic key, her phone went off with a text from Jeremy.

Jeremy: Turns out a perk of being a hunter is I can't be compelled. Stefan tried to force me to tell him how far the mark grew.

Addie counted the plastic stars on her ceiling as she reviewed the implications in one simple text. Jeremy had killed a vampire. Likely on Stefan's instruction. There were a million directions she could take that, including who was involved, who was killed, why they weren't at the pageant and such, but she had absolutely no inclination to. She _knew_ her mind should go down the rabbit hole of questions and she should start freaking out with concern for her brother but she _couldn't_. It hadn't been a lie when she had told Damon that she was tired of the supernatural. It was one hysteric after another.

Addie didn't realize the small smile on her lips as she suddenly came up with a line for the song she had been working on the night she broke up with Damon. In the Word Document for the song she typed it up: _It's the same routine just a different scene. It's the same old stunt just a different month._

* * *

 **Damon: Stefan's probably roped Jeremy into a world of crazy and is making him kill vampires. Neither are at the pageant. Even if we complete the Hunter's mark, we still need a Bennett witch to break some spell. I can't do anything about Professor Creepy because he has to teach Bonnie how to get her groove back.**

For the umpteenth time Damon wrote and deleted a message intended for Addie. It was killing him not to talk to her. There was no possible way breaking up was making her happy. He was fucking miserable. His chest physically ached every time he thought of her. Alcohol dumbed the physical pain but it brought back memories of fonder times he didn't want to remember. In his eternity, though, those memories would only seem like a handful. He wanted a lifetime of memories.

Each time the heartache and pain of losing Addie seemed to become to unbearable, Elena would appear just in time to stop him from screwing up Addie's life. _Addie didn't want him. Addie didn't want the supernatural._

But Elena wanted him. And that made Damon's head swoon. But not his heart. Stefan had told him the previous morning that he and Elena had broken up. Elena had confirmed that it was because of her feelings for Damon.

* * *

It was catlike the way Damon clung to the window ledge by the tips of his fingers and toes of his dress shoes. He felt a bit guilt as he spied on Addie for a few seconds. She wore her own tank top and short running shorts as she lay stretched across her bedroom floor; his t-shirt and boxers looked better on her. Her laptop was open but pushed several feet away from her. There was a glassy expression as she looked up. His form had made a shadow in the room; she should have noticed him. It wasn't like Addie to not be super observant and vigilant. It saddened him when he found the window to be locked. He rapped on it lightly.

Addie's eyes slowly rolled backwards, just enough to make out the hulking figure. If she ignored him, perhaps he would go away. Damon continued to knocked on the window. After five minutes of continuous knocking, he dropped from the window. Addie couldn't help her smug smirk of victory. It wasn't that she was mad at Damon; she just didn't want to be bothered with anything. If he was showing up, there was an issue. She was content to live in an emotionless, stress-free state. Making music hadn't been as successful at tapping into her emotions as she had hope.

She groaned audibly when the phone buzzed with a text message a moment later. It was annoying to move her arm and check it. At least annoying was a feeling she could connect with.

 **Damon: Addison May Gilbert. Open your window. I will break it open.**

A crease formed between Addie's eyebrow as she texted back.

 _Addie: I don't know why people presume using my full name is going to make me do what they want._

 **Damon: Open your window or I will break it open.**

 _Addie: And then I will report to Elena and Klaus that you are putting my safety in jeopardy._

 **Damon: Trust me, Ads, I'm not afraid of them. I'm just as stubborn as you are.**

 _Addie: That's debatable. I think I'll continue to lay here. It's so comfortable._

 **Damon: Fine. I was hoping not to come in and cause a scene with your siblings but if that is what you desire….**

"Dumb, bastard vampire," Addie scowled under her breath as she stormed to her window, undid the lock, and threw it open with a bang.

Damon jumped in through the window, easily landing on the balls of his feet. He gave her a grin as he taunted, "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Addie crossed her arms and looked at him stonily. She had not meant to be friends with him. They were not going to do the friendly bantering. "What do you want?"

"You were right," Damon said quietly, adjusting the knot in his tie. He told himself the fact that he had worn one had nothing to do with the fact that Addie preferred them over bowties. He looked up in mild surprise when she didn't say anything and asked, "Don't you want to know what about?"

"No, I'm generally right," Addie stated certainly, continuing to look at him blankly.

"And you say I'm the one with an inflated ego?" Damon snorted. When he didn't get a reaction, Damon mirrored her stance, down to the cross arms and cold stare, and deadpanned, "You're not happy."

"Is that what you came to discuss?" she asked flatly.

"No but I'm generally right," Damon parrotted.

"My happiness is none of your concern anymore. S-"

"That's not true!" he quickly shot out.

Addie's brows knitted together as she explained, "You're not my friend. You're not my anything. I want nothing to do with you. I bet that you are here out of some misguided sense of obligation. You owe me nothing Damon because we are nothing."

Damon bit the inside of his cheek to keep from speaking. His hands gripped at his sports' coat instead of running through his hair; he didn't want to let Addie see her habit was now his natural response. To hear that they were nothing hurt so much worse than her breaking up with him.

Gathering his resolved, Damon inhaled deeply. He would do what he came for and leave. Sharply he said, "Jeremy staked Elena in the neck. Stefan and Matt had to come between them. Elena can't stay in a house where Jeremy wants to kill her. I wanted to make sure it's ok with you before Elena moves into the Boarding Home but I guess that doesn't really matter since _we are nothing._ "

"It doesn't matter to me," replied Addie. It wasn't a lie. She _wanted_ it to matter. She wanted to be furious and outraged and jealous but she couldn't. To feel meant to hurt too much. As she thought, Addie pointed out mildly, "It might matter to Elena's ex-boyfriend, considering he lives there."

" _You talk to Stefan?"_ Damon spat, unable to hold back his jealousy. "Are you two still being shady together? Were you in on getting Jeremy to kill that vampire?"

Not rising to his bait, Addie's answer was flat and monotone, "Stefan and I ran into each other in the woods. We talked as friends. Either my brother becomes Connor 2.0 or my sister stays a vampire; it's a lose-lose situation for me. I'm not working with anybody on anything."

"Elena's moving in," Damon declared, if only in attempt to hurt Addie. "Stefan will deal with it."

"Ok. Did you need anything else?"

Shaking his head in defeat, Damon sighed, "I guess not."

Silently, Addie motioned towards the window.

As Damon made to leave he looked over his shoulder and asked, "Ads, are you depressed?"

She made the briefest eye contact with him before turning away and mumbling, "No, I don't feel anything."

Damon dropped from the window, unable to shake the haunted, terrified look he had momentarily caught in the deep blue eyes he knew so well. A chill ran down his spine as he knew exactly what Addie meant. Between 1953 and 1957 Damon had been held prisoner and had been experimented on and tortured by the Augustines. To survive much of that time he had to feel nothing. He couldn't let feelings seep in because he was so focused on survival. Feeling nothing was excruciating to being depressed. The body's natural response is to go into a conservative state when everything it too overwhelming. Addie's emotions, whether good or bad, had been in overdrive for too long and all she could do to survive was not feel. It was worse than he thought.

* * *

Damon was glad Elena chose to sit in the parlor; Addie never sat in the parlor. He poured himself a strong shot of whiskey and passed one to Elena as he sat next to her.

Elena downed most of it in one gulp and murmured, "Thanks."

"Just being polite. I thought you hated whiskey," he frowned.

"My brother wants to kill me. My sister probably wants to kill me because I'm staying here. I wouldn't know because I didn't have the guts to face her. Oh, and, I also haven't had the guts to confront my sister about the fact that she's obviously spiralling into a depression. I needed a drink. Whiskey will do," Elena sighed, resting her head in her hand.

Softly she confessed, "Damon, I'm terrified. I'm sure there is some magic way to fix Jeremy; he'll be alright. But Addie? There's no cure for her. She gets manic and she gets depressed. She does amazing and she crash and burns. I don't know how to keep her from burning up."

Damon nursed his drink slowly as he thought of an answer. He felt like it was his duty to reassure Elena that Addie was okay. He wasn't convinced that he was but the same force that made him walk into Elena's room was making him convince her everything was alright.

"Addie will burn up over and over and over again. We want to protect her from that because we love her. But, burning up isn't always a bad thing. Ads is a phoenix, Elena. Each time she reinvents herself as brighter, stronger, and purer than before. Addie is forging her own way in this world, becoming the creator of herself. Like a phoenix, she rises from the ashes."

"That's beautiful, Damon," sniffled Elena. "Have you ever told her that?"

"No," he said, fighting the urge to snort. Addie would've probably punched his arm and then given him the cold shoulder for a month if he ever said anything like that. She wasn't good at taking compliments, especially ones she couldn't see.

"What would you say about me?" Elena asked hesitantly. "Jeremy can't live with me. Stefan wants to fix me. Addie's jealous of me yet feels guilty. Caroline flat-out admitted that she doesn't like me this way. I think it's safe to say that I'm not so great at this vampire thing."

Again, the words that came out of Damon's mouth were very different from the ones that were in his heart. With a flirtatious grin he said, "I don't think I've ever seen you more alive."

Elena smiled, blushing slightly. After a moment she said, "That dance that they did today kind of reminded me of when…

"When you were in the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant?"

"And you danced with Addie," Elena nodded. "I was anxious when Jeremy stepped in to replace Stefan for me. Then I was jealous when I realized you would be replacing Jeremy. I wanted to dance with you instead. I want to dance with you today, too."

Elena looked up at Damon through shy lashes pleadingly. Damon placed his and Elena's tumblers on the coffee table. Standing up, he offered his hand to her. Elena smiled, took it, and stood up. Damon led her over to the front of the fireplace. His free hand found her waist while hers settled on his shoulder. Slowly, they started to dance, their heads placed softly together.

* * *

Addie wrapped her arms tight around her as she banged the brass knocker harder on the ivory dory. Her other hand began jabbing at the doorbell, her fingers trembling in the cold. She had barely thrown on shoes when she left the house. She had completely forgotten that shorts and a tank were not appropriate for the middle of the night in late November.

"What the bloody hell?" snapped Klaus, throwing open the door, clad only in a pair of long pajama bottoms.

"I need to know about sire bonds," Addie demanded. Her emotions were not fully back but her logic and reasoning had snapped back on.

* * *

 **A/N: Shorter chapter but much quicker update. I think I like summarizing the show better and having more original scenes in there. It might cut down on the length. We shall see. I'm REALLY excited for Damon and Elena's dance to continue and for Addie and Klaus to have a talk about sire bonds. Any ideas on why their talk will be important?**


	8. Chapter 8

Addie wrapped her arms tight around her as she banged the brass knocker harder on the ivory dory. Her other hand began jabbing at the doorbell, her fingers trembling in the cold. She had barely thrown on shoes when she left the house. She had completely forgotten that shorts and a tank were not appropriate for the middle of the night in late November.

"What the bloody hell?" snapped Klaus, throwing open the door, clad only in a pair of long pajama bottoms.

"I need to know about sire bonds," Addie demanded. Her emotions were not fully back but her logic and reasoning had snapped back on.

Klaus firmly grabbed Addie by the wrist and tugged her inside, quickly closing the door behind her. "You do realize it's below freezing out, right?"

"I wasn't that concerned with the weather," she replied sniffed, turning her nose up slightly. Again she repeated, "I need to know about sire bonds."

Klaus glanced over at a large grandfather clock that read it was nearly one in the morning. Just as snidely he replied, "Apparently you weren't that concerned with the time, either."

"I tried to call," Addie said, her brows furrowing. What did time matter when she needed answers?

"Yes. Phones have this amazing technology known as 'caller ID'. When you called only three times in a row I figured it wasn't that important and could wait until a more reasonable hour," Klaus sneered. He waited for a snippy comeback but Addie just frown, as if she hadn't considered this.

Rolling his eyes, Klaus steered Addie into the sitting room and gently pushed her into an over stuff couched. He threw a soft throw around her trembling shoulders. He sat directly across from her on the coffee table, their knees almost brushing.

"I take it you're not going to allow me to go to bed until you get what you came for," he surmised, not needing to ask.

Addie shook her head, her teeth chattering as she repeated, "I need to know about sire bonds."

"So you've stated," he nodded, unable to resist the slight smile at his lips. "I knew you would want to at some point. Are your thoughts organized?"

"Yes," Addie declared firmly.

Klaus scoffed good naturedly, "Addison, if your thoughts were organized, you would realize that you did not need to pound on my door in the middle of the night to discuss sire bonds. If they were even semi-coherent you would have the forethought to not come over in your pajamas."

He saw some sense come back to her as she self consciously wrapped the blanket around herself. Klaus grabbed a pad of paper and a pen off the table and passed them to her. Authoritatively he instructed, "Come up with some semblance of coherency. I am not Damon and I will not indulge all your wild tangents at unreasonable hours. I will be back shortly."

Furiously, Addie began to write:

 _CAN VAMPIRES BE SIRED LIKE HYBRIDS? (In regards to Damon Salvatore siring Elena Gilbert)_

 _Rational:_

 _1\. Elena can only drink from the vein. Damon said she could only drink from the vein._

 _2\. Damon said to kill Connor and Elena did._

 _3\. Damon can reach Elena when Stefan can't. However, Stefan was Elena's rock/ride-or-die. Her feelings for Stefan should, theoretically, be stronger._

 _Questions:_

 _does a sire bond exist? - Why would Elena sire to Damon?_

 _are the limits of a sire bond?_

 _do you break a sire bond?_

"Are you finished?" Klaus asked, returning to the room with two steaming tea cups.

"I guess," Addie sighed as she tapped the pen anxiously. There had seemed to be so much more to it when all the thoughts had been spiraling around in her head.

"Drink," he ordered, passing her a cup as he took the paper.

Addie sniffed at the cup suspiciously.

"It's a Hot Toddy," Klaus sighed, sitting next to her. "I'm not trying to poison you."

"Like, tea with honey, lemon and alcohol?" she asked, her nose shriveling in disgust. She didn't like honey _or_ lemon.

"Drink," he commanded again, taking a sip from his own mug and turning to look at the piece of paper.

Addie didn't know why but she tasted the beverage. It wasn't as horrible as she suspected. The sweet vanilla of the bourbon mostly hid the flavor of lemon and the honey was very subtle. It was actually pretty good. It crossed her mind that if Damon had tried to get her to eat or drink something she didn't like she would have staunchly refused but she brushed that aside. There was something about Klaus that made her more submissive.

"Addison, what do you know about the basics of a sire bond?" Klaus asked slowly. He was surprised Addie hadn't come to him sooner. Though, if she was depressed, it made sense that it would take longer for her to work things out.

"Not much," Addie mumbled into her drink, her cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment. Addie didn't like to be seen as ignorant. She wished she could have researched the Salvatore library before coming to Klaus. "Your hybrids are sired to you and do whatever you say. They are able to break the sire bond by turning into werewolves over and over until it's essential painless. I imagine most people don't have that willpower."

"It's excruciatingly painful; being sired is much more preferable," Klaus confirmed. He pushed down the anger that rose as he recalled Tyler and the hybrid he had helped to unsire. "My hybrids are sired to me because I have freed them from the pain of turning. However, a sire bond works on both the sire and the one who has been turned," Klaus admitted sourly.

"What?" Addie asked incredulously.

Klaus remained silent. She was smart. He didn't need to spoon feed it to her.

Eventually Addie realized, "You're tied to your hybrids just as much as they are to you. That's why you're so possessive of them."

He gave an infinitesimal nod of confirmation. "I did not anticipate that when I set out on my quest to create hybrids."

Addie leaned her head on the back of the couch as she studied Klaus' profile and character. What could tie him to any one person? Let alone a group of people. When he found out Chris, a hybrid who had broken his sire bond, had deceived him, Klaus had offered him up for slaughter. Klaus had obsessed over Tyler Lockwood and doing whatever he could to screw with Tyler because Tyler had broken his bond. Addie highly doubted Klaus was even interested in Caroline; he enjoyed that giving Caroline attention pissed Tyler off. Klaus felt betrayed.

Klaus valued his family always and forever. His hybrids weren't his family but they were the next best thing. Perhaps he thought the sire bond would keep them from hurting him the way family had. It wasn't exactly loneliness that tied Klaus to his hybrids. The crowns of Addie's mouth dipped as she understood what bound Klaus to his hybrids: fear of abandonment.

Her hand shook slightly as she brushed the light scruff on his cheek, turning his face towards her. She noticed it was longer and soft than Damon's. She wouldn't call Klaus out on his secret. She knew it took a lot for him to admit that the sire bond was a two-way street.

In a hushed tone she asked, "You have an individual bond with each of your hybrids?"

His fingers curled around hers, their joined hands settling on his knee. He nodded.

"That sounds miserable," Addie mumbled.

That was an understatement. Klaus snorted, "It wasn't bad until I found out the sire bond could be broken. For a sire bond to form, both parties have to…"

"Benefit?" suggested Addie, when Klaus trailed off.

"Sort of but not quite. In my hybrid experience, it was formed out of feelings of gratitude on behalf of me and whom I sire. Siring is much more rare in vampires. The emotion has to be present on both ends before the vampire is created," he said slowly. Normally he loved running Addie and Damon's relationship into the ground but it already seemed to reach bottom. Addie looked so deflated. While there was interest in her eyes, she lacked the fight she normally had. She was there but she wasn't.

Finishing the last of her Hot Toddy, she asked, "What does it require from vampires?"

"You know," he said, taking her empty cup. "You wouldn't have showed up on my doorstep half dressed if you didn't already know."

"From both parties?" Addie sighed, a hint of annoyance seeping into her voice.

Again, he nodded mutely.

A flurry of emotions came to a dull roar in Addie as the truth hit her. Anger collided with jealousy which mashed with despair and defiance. There were so many conflicting emotions that she finally felt as it all hit her. She allowed a single tear of self-pity to roll down her cheek before stuffing them all away again.

Damon had to have loved Elena when she was still human.

* * *

Elena looked up at Damon through shy lashes pleadingly. Damon placed his and Elena's tumblers on the coffee table. Standing up, he offered his hand to her. Elena smiled, took it, and stood up. Damon led her over to the front of the fireplace. His free hand found her waist while hers settled on his shoulder. Slowly, they started to dance, their heads placed softly together.

Damon twirled Elena out and then pulled her back to him tightly. Her face tilted up at him, her lips begging to be kiss. As he was leaning into do so, Damon suddenly regained control of his body and mind. He stepped back quickly, pushing Elena away harder than he meant to.

Everything about this was wrong. Her hands were too cold. The curve of her waist wasn't as soft. And she was far too damn tall.

"Damon, what's wrong?" Elena asked quickly.

"Everything," he spat in frustration, running his hand through his hair. In defeat he exclaimed, "You're not her!"

"Addie?" she asked in confusion. "You broke up with her because of your feelings for _me_."

Damon laughed coldly, grabbing and empty tumbler and throwing it into the roaring fireplace. "Trust me, Elena, I know," he sneered viciously. "But it doesn't matter how I feel about you. I love her. I'm in love with her." With defeat Damon realized, "It's always gonna be her."

"Then why did you let her break up with you?" Elena asked, her hand gently falling on his arm.

With Elena's touch, Damon was back under the curse. His heart and mind disagree with everything is body did but he could do nothing to stop it. Internally he cried out for Addie to save him as he said, "Because I want you, Elena."

"Then prove it," she challenged.

* * *

The was a gasp of pain as Addie landed with a hard thump on the floor. She groaned at her crude awakening, slowly realizing she had rolled off of Klaus's couch.

She could hear him snickering as he said, "I wondered how long until that happened. You'd been hugging the edge of the couch for the last hour."

"You were watching me sleep?" she scowled up at him as she rubbed at the back of her head. At least the rug had cushioned the blow.

"I was working," he replied defensively, quickly showing her a sketching of her asleep on his couch.

"I can't believe I fell asleep," Addie mumbled in disgust, wrapping the blanket around her. How had she let herself come over to Klaus's in just a tank top and perilously short shorts?

"I can," Klaus said gently, setting aside his sketchbook. "You can't feel when you're asleep."

Flashbacks to Klaus and Stefan feeding on people jumped into her mind. Her eyes narrowed with hate as she lashed out, "You can in nightmares."

Klaus took her venomous nature in stride. He'd had his morning blood and coffee. He could deal with a moody Addison Gilbert. Plus, he'd been meaning to gauge her mental state. It was even more important that he do it now that she knew about the sire bond.

"You didn't look like you were having a nightmare. You were drooling on a very expensive, antique throw pillow," he said lightly, stretching his legs out in front of him.

Addie covered her face in mortification. Through her hands she mumbled, "I never drool."

"I can confirm you were."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, peeking through her fingers. She didn't doubt Klaus; Damon had accused her of drooling on his chest multiple times on her nights of soundest sleep.

He chuckled softly, "It's ok. You looked your age for once; like you weren't carrying the weight of the world."

Realizing she had also fallen asleep without the assistance of sleeping pills, Addie concluded, "I must have been exhausted. I don't even remember laying down."

"You didn't. You realized Elena _and_ Damon are under the influence of a sire bond, cried a single tear and laid your head on the back of the couch. I was giving you a few minutes to process it but by the time I tried to talk to you about it, you were already asleep," Klaus explained.

That was right; Damon loved Elena when she was still human. Addie supposed it made sense that she had fallen asleep so quickly. It had been her body's defense mechanism rather than facing reality. Klaus was right; you can't feel when you're deep asleep. Sleeping kept the emotions off.

"I need to go home," she muttered, standing up, still clutching the blanket around her.

"I think you should stay," Klaus said firmly. When she shook her head insistently he pointed out, "You still had questions about the sire bond I didn't answer last night."

"I don't want to know about the sire bond."

Klaus snorted, "Are you trying to convince yourself or me? You showed up on my door in the middle of the night in your pajamas demanding to know about it."

That reminded her that the blanket was extremely soft on far too much of her skin. "I need to get dressed."

"You don't need to get dress as you don't need to go anywhere. Your absurd sense of modesty makes you feel like you need to cover up. There's a pair of clean sweatpants and t-shirt," he instructed, pointed to a pile on the table. He could see her resolve wavering as she looked longingly at the clothes. "Any other objections?"

"No one knows where I am," she shrugged.

"I'm not holding you hostage. You can leave when you want, I just think you would rather have some answers before you do. Besides, I found your keys and your cell in your unlocked car last night," he reasoned, pointing to the objects next to the clothes. "You were in such a hurry to see me last night you left them in your car. If anyone needs you, they can call you."

Addie gave Klaus a slightly thankful glance as she grabbed the clothes off the table and quickly walked to the nearest bathroom. She pulled his shirt and pants on over her own clothes. There was something intimate about wearing a man's clothes but she shoved it out of her mind. The fabrics were light and obviously expensive, just like Damon's clothes. Vainly she tried to comb her hair with her fingers. Addie splashed cool water on her face, trying to wake herself up more before returning to the living room.

More alert, she was able to take in the subtle differences she wasn't used to. Klaus' mansion was decorated more in black and white and stone. It was more modern than the warm woods and darker tones of the boarding house.

"I'm losing my mind," Addie giggle softly, sinking into a chair opposite from Klaus.

"Why do you say that?"

"There's a difference between believing you're not going to hurt me, at least right now, and actively seeking out your company," she explained, careful to not anger him.

"We have a… delicate relationship," Klaus replied just as hesitantly. His feelings for Addie weren't romantic but he was possessive and protective of her. He wanted her… what? What did he want from her? For now he wanted to be her confidant. Eventually, he would use her to satisfy his ultimate goal. He felt that they had a silent understanding of respect and a certain level of trust.

In an attempt to make her feel better he shared, "You're not losing your mind. Damon came to me after you broke up. He indirectly asked me to play a greater role in protecting you since…."

"He trusted you to do that?" Addie frowned skeptically.

Klaus shrugged, "Probably not. However, despite his feelings and pride, he knows well enough that your safety is a priority of mine. My point is that it's not so outrageous that you subconsciously understand that as well."

Addie hummed as she traced a pattern on the armrest. She didn't want to waste her energy analyzing her unhealthy relationship with Klaus. She knew she had an addiction to toxic relationships.

"Damon and Elena," she murmured, "have a sire bond."

"Yes."

Addie's lips pursed into a thin line as she figured out where to start. "You've always suggested something between Damon and Elena. You've always tried to sow seeds of doubt about my relationship with him. Did you know this would happen?" she eventually demanded, unable to keep the accusation from her voice.

"I hassled you about your relationship with Damon because he's not good enough for you. A true sire bond between vampires is extremely rare. I never expected it to happen but I wondered if it would after Elena turned," Klaus admitted, as truthfully as possible. He never really knew why he gave Addie and Damon so much trouble. He loathed their relationship. It made him sick.

"You saw that Damon loves Elena," Addie scowled, her voice cracking as she finally admitted the truth aloud. It disgusted her that she had seen it. She had wanted to see the best in Damon. She had wanted to finally be the most important person in the world to someone. She had almost let Damon become that to her. She'd been blinded to reality. Love was weakness.

Klaus' fingers steepled in thought. He knew Damon loved Elena. He also knew Stefan loved Addie. Both brothers loved each sister because of what they meant to the other. Damon did not love Elena the way he loved Addie. Stefan did not love Addie the way he loved Elena. He decided it wasn't his job to fix Addie and Damon's relationship. Someone else could point out the semantics.

"Yes."

Addie's teeth bit into the inside of her lip, hard enough to draw blood. She couldn't handle feeling anything other than furious at herself for being oblivious. She wanted to blame Damon and Elena but she had to remind herself that it was understandable. If she loved them both, it made sense they could love each other. A deeper part of her mind knew she had a right to be upset with both of them but Addie was aware that her emotions were turning back on. She had to limit what she was feeling so she didn't explode and do something she regretted.

"So, your hybrids have to do whatever you say. Does Elena have to do whatever Damon says?"

"Pretty much," Klaus said slowly.

"Is it like compulsion?" she asked with concern.

He shook his head slowly. "From my understanding, whatever Damon tells her to do or suggests she should do is interpreted by her brain as the right thing. With my hybrids, they can disagree with what I tell them to do but they still have to do it. Elena's tie to Damon is based out of love and trust. Hybrids become sired because they are freed from a specific action; they don't have an emotional tie to me to make things more complicated. His words can more easily influence her mind."

"It sounds almost exactly like compulsion," spat Addie.

"I suppose, if it were abused, it would be."

They drifted off into a silence. Klaus could see a storm of rage brewing in her dark blue eyes.

"Addison," he said sharply, recalling her focus to him, "you're forgetting that the sire bond is two-fold. Elena has a similar pull on Damon. While not as strong, her words, her actions, her presence, it all clouds his mind."

"What do you mean?" Addie asked, her face pale with concern.

Klaus hand ran along the scruff of his jaw as he thought of how to explain it. "Elena can't influence Damon like he can her but Damon isn't in full control of himself."

* * *

Teetering on the edge of wakefulness, Damon's arm wandered across the bed, searching for a body. He scowled when he didn't find one. Every morning was another cruel reminder that he was no longer with Addie. Blindly he pulled the pillow from her side of the bed and buried his face in it. It smelled like her cucumber melon shampoo but the scent was fading. Pressing his nose further into the soft material, he fought for a few more minutes of sleep.

The mornings were simultaneously the best and worst time for Damon. It was excruciating to wake up without her twisted around him like ivy. However, he was still groggy enough that he could usually trick his mind into believing that she was just a few feet away by smelling her pillow and drift back to sleep for a short bit. As he drifted back to sleep, he felt content and warm and complete.

When he fully woke up, he returned to being a shell of a person; he was incomplete without his Ads. It became tolerable, bearable when he was in Elena's presence. Perhaps he would make her breakfast to show his appreciation. He could make her vampire pancakes like he made Addie.

Shame flooded Damon as he recalled his cold shower from the previous night. His body had eagerly responded to Elena's challenge the previous night. It had took every ounce of self-control he had to speed into his bathroom, making sure to lock his bedroom door behind him. It was good that he'd had; he'd heard Elena trying the doorknob while he was in the icy water. Doing anything with Elena was strictly off-limits. He could live with hurting Stefan; he knew he wasn't always a good brother, but he couldn't bare to crush Addie like that. Even if she had broken up with him, he didn't doubt Addie loved him.

Damon still didn't understand why he was responding like a randy teenager to Elena when he was in love with Addie. Obviously Elena was drop-dead sexy but she didn't compare to Addie. To other guys, Elena would be the more attractive sister but not to Damon. Elena, the former cheerleader, was more of his usual type but he had grown extremely attracted to Addie's shorter, curvier figure. Addie was strong and solid compared to willowy and leggy, like her sister. Damon spent more time than he care to admit fantasizing about Addie but controlling himself around her had never been as hard. It was as if Elena ruled the control switch to his libido and he had no say.

* * *

Addie pinched the bridge of her nose. She wanted to slam her head against a wall in frustration. Damon was typically a victim of him impulses; Addie already considered that to be out of his own control. Through gritted teeth she hissed, "What do you mean he isn't in control?"

Klaus shrugged, shaking his head slightly, understanding her annoyance. "Mostly he will say or do things he doesn't necessarily want to. I don't know, exactly, Addison. I'm not an expert in _vampire_ sire bonds."

She let out a long, muted noise of anger at the situation.

"Their bond is formed out of love." Addie gave another growl of irritation "That doesn't negate the fact that Damon loves you so much that it's nauseating."

When Klaus didn't continue Addie scowled, "What's your point?"

"Honestly, I'm interested to see whether the natural bond between you and Damon can beat the sire bond," Klaus said spreading his hands innocently. He wasn't rooting for Addie and Damon to beat the sire bond but it would be interesting to see how it played out.

"The sire bond is stronger," Addie said decisively, having already considered that. "Tyler loved Caroline but he couldn't keep from biting her when you ordered him to. He didn't want to do it. He did it on accident. The sire bond is too… _magical._ Besides, it doesn't matter. Damon and I broke up. He has to move on at some point."

"You look ill just saying that. You don't want Damon to move on. And you definitely don't want him moving on with your sister," Klaus retorted smugly at her pinched face.

Addie couldn't deny that thinking about Damon and Elena _together_ made her want to vomit. "If that's what," she held back a gag, "what makes them happy, I'll support it. I don't want them to be together because of a sire bond, though. How do you break it?"

"There are two certain ways to break the sire bond: cure Elena or turn off her humanity," he answered bluntly.

"I think everyone would prefer the former solution." Though, that brought up issues of getting the cure and ethical dilemmas of using Jeremy.

"Indeed."

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked, taking in his slight frown.

Klaus sighed, running a finger along his chin as he said slowly, "I don't know if either of those solutions will break the bond on Damon's end."

Addie's fingers tugged at her hair in exasperation. She wasn't concerned about Elena being sired to Damon; Damon wouldn't abuse that. The sire bond needed to be broken because Damon couldn't control himself! What would be the point in breaking it if Damon wasn't freed?

"Explain," Addie huffed, pouting slightly.

"Addison, people don't break sire bonds," he said sloe, looking through her rather than at her. "They don't want to because of the intense emotions associated with them."

"But your hybrids have broken the bond," she pointed out.

Klaus rested his chin in his hand as he struggle to find the right words to explain. "Do you know how Tyler broke his sire bond?" he asked distantly. "Beyond the actual mechanic, I mean."

Addie could hear the echoes of Tyler saying, " _maybe real love is stronger than fake loyalty,"_ when Klaus demanded to know how he had broken the bond.

"You told Tyler you gave him a gift and took away his misery," Addie recalled.

"And he was thankful to me, for awhile."

Addie nodded; she remembered the odd period of time when Tyler was Klaus' new friend and followed him around like a puppy and was a proud hybrid.

Klaus continued, ignoring her acknowledgement, his attention on his own thoughts, "Until he found something greater than me. He found an emotion stronger than gratitude and that allowed him to break his sire bond."

"I have a sense I'm not the only one obsessing over breaking a sire bond," Addie uttered, starting to grow a little sulky at the lack of direct attention.

"Chris, my hybrid I let Jeremy kill, also broke his sire bond," he murmured as a finger slowly traced his lip. "He had no Caroline equivalent that I am aware of."

"You're worried that more of your hybrids will break the sire bond," she understood. "Do you… do you think Damon would still feel the effect of the sire bond even if Elena was cured because you still feel it for Tyler and Chris?" Addie asked hesitantly. She didn't want to pry to far into his private thoughts.

Klaus had not been able to feel his sire bond with Tyler or Chris _break_. He noticed a _shift_ within when he learned they had broken their end of the bond He'd chose them, given them a gift, allowed them to be close to him and they betrayed him. He was no longer grateful for his hybrids. He was malevolent. Klaus was a very old vampire and had been wrong very many times. The hatred he felt for Katherine Pierce turning herself into a vampire did not compare to his feelings for Tyler and Chris. He could not have felt such strong disdain if it wasn't for the sire bond.

"That's correct. However, Tyler found true love to be stronger than the sire bond." Klaus shrugged and said with finality, "I told you I was interested to see whether or not Damon could resist the bond's pull."

Addie snatched her phone off the coffee table as Stefan's monotonous beeping ringtone started. Damon had selected the tone. Mercifully the screen was face down so Klaus didn't see who was calling.

"That's my three minute warning alarm for practice," Addie sighed, running her free hand through her hair. Looking up at Klaus she said apologetically, "I have to go or I'm going to be late for school."

* * *

"What's this?" Elena asked, looking at the set table.

"Nothing," Damon smirked as he flipped the last pancake onto the plate.

"It looks like breakfast."

"Yes. Sit," he instructed. Damon continued to grin as he decorated the two stacks of pancakes with whipped cream smiley faces and strawberry fangs.

"We're vampires. We don't need to eat," Elena pointed out as she sat at the table.

Damon rolled his eyes as he sat a plate in front of her before taking his own seat. "No but we keep up appearances of normalcy to avoid speculation. Plus, I make delicious pancakes."

"With vampire faces," she noted, her face souring. Elena plucked the strawberries off and placed them on the side of her plate.

His face fell slightly. "You don't like strawberries?"

"I like strawberries. I don't like being reminded every second of the day that I'm a vampire."

"I thought we discussed that," Damon mumbled as he swirled his own strawberry in a whipped cream smile. He took a bite but it didn't taste as sweet or a juicy as when Addie fed it to him. That was stupid; he knew it was all in his head, along with the pang in his chest.

Elena dipped her head so that her hair curtained her face. One hand curled around the cup of coffee Damon had set out for her as she murmured, "I know you said you've never seen me more alive but it's hard to believe that when you won't prove it."

Long fingers settled on Damon's knee, causing him to stiffen. His voice was choked and tense as he said, "I believe what I said."

"Then why won't you prove it? I know you want." She still wouldn't look at him but Damon could feel her fingers drifting higher.

"My body does," Damon corrected, his hand tightening in a bruising grip around her wrist. Through barred teeth he snarled, "Do not make the mistake of thinking I want to."

Elena huffed as she snatched her wrist away from him and whined, "Then how am I supposed to believe you?"

"You trust me," he said, through a slow, long breath. "You trust me because you wouldn't want a man who would be so ready to betray your sister. It wouldn't be fair to either of you if I slept with you right now when I'm still so in love with her. You both deserve someone who loves you right."

"You're right," Elena agreed, her cheeks coloring with sudden shame. She was a horrible sister for trying to sleep with Damon. Damon had chosen _her_ over Addie. She didn't need him to rush into physically proving it. Damon was a good man for still being so conflicted about it.

* * *

" _What_ ," Addie snarled with exasperation, "is the emergency?" She had finally answered Stefan's third call on her way home.

"Caroline and I think Elena might be sired to Damon," he blurted out, sounding out of breath and flustered.

Throwing her head back against the headrest, Addie couldn't help but scoff humorlessly. _Why the hell was this her life? Why the hell did she continue to allow these things to be her problem?_ She broke up with Damon. She trusted him enough not to abuse the bond. Other vampires had sire bonds and Klaus explicitly said they don't want to break them. She should really just tell Stefan it wasn't her problem and hang up. Actually…

"Yeah, Klaus agrees. Technically the bond works both ways kinda. But you know what?" Addie said, a devious smile dancing across her face as she drawled out the last four words. "It's not my problem anymore."

Addie giggled freely as she tossed her cell phone into the passenger seat, the call ended. That was so liberating. Elena had Stefan and Jeremy and Bonnie and Caroline and Damon and, in his own way, even Klaus looking out for her. It was not Addie's sole responsibility to care for her sister. She felt like she'd put everyone else first for so long. It was time she put herself first.

That was why her damn emotions had shut off. She _cared_ too much. That had to stop.

* * *

Addie nursed a pint of Jack Daniels and just enough Coke-a-Cola to throw off the coloring. It wasn't her first or second or third. She'd lost count hours ago. The drinks had flowed freely all night for everyone. She did remember that she'd had an entire bottle of Jack instead of going to school. Who was going to yell at her? She had no parents. There was no Alaric. She broke up with Damon. And Elena lived with Damon. She was free to do whatever she wanted. What she could not recall was how Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie had convinced her it would be a good idea to join them for a "girls' night" at the boarding house. But the more Jack and Coke she downed the more tolerable it all was. Nothing about "girls' night" was ever enjoyable. The music was too loud. The topics of conversation were dull and idiotic. It was especially gruesome that this one had to occur at the boarding house. Addie took a long drink as she tried to focus on anything but Elena in Damon's bathtub. She wasn't even sure how the hell they ended up in Damon's bathroom.

"Being a vampire is so weird," Elena said as she marveled at a video of herself moving at vampire speed that Bonnie had taken. As Bonnie moved to show Addie the video Elena sunk further down into Damon's porcelain tub, moaning, "Oh my God, I love this bathtub. Why don't we come and hang out here more often?"

Caroline wagged her finger knowingly as she informed, "I'll tell you why. Cooties. Think of all the germ-ridden skanks that Damon has lured into his den of iniquity."

Caroline giggled, obviously tipsy. Addie snorted into her glass, equal parts amused and surprised that she found Caroline funny. Elena sat up in the bathtub slowly. Bonnie face tensed as she looked from Elena to Addie to Caroline.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Caroline said quickly, holding her hands up defensively. "I've been good all night. I am stopping now."

"No, don't stop on my account. Rip away. I mean, it's only Damon, right?" Elena replied sarcastically.

"Well, say what you want about Ripper Stefan, but at least he wasn't a man slut," Caroline replied scornfully.

"Come on," Bonnie said pleadingly to Caroline, trying to diffuse the situation.

When Addie didn't jump in at Damon's defense Elena sneered at her sister with disgust and spat, "You dated Damon."

"Yeah. but." Addie's shoulders straightened and head tilted a little as she said haughtily, "I was never stupid enough to sleep with him. He _is_ a man whore."

"So, what exactly was it about him that made you jump right into bed with him as soon as you met him?" Elena asked Caroline, feigning innocence.

Caroline quickly snapped back, "I didn't know what a sociopathic narcissist he was."

"I've always referred to him as a psychotic, serial killing, narcissistic," Addie interjected. "Sociopaths feel very shallow emotions, if any due to their brain development. A narcissist feels everything. He believes he feels it better and/or worse than anyone else in the world. A sociopathic narcissist is impossible."

"No one asked for the scientific reasoning, Addison!" Caroline snapped. "I still didn't know he was whatever Addie called him."

"He's always been there for me when I needed him," Elena replied sharply.

"Yeah, because he's hoping you'll sleep with him," Caroline shot back.

Addie didn't have the brain power for an argument for that. Perhaps Damon always had been trying to sleep with Elena. Maybe she always was the consolation prize. She slumped further against the shower door as the bathroom began to spin. The last thing Addie remembered before spilling a day's worth of liquor into Damon's toilet was Elena saying maybe she had slept with Damon.

* * *

Her throat felt like sandpaper. It hurt to move. It was like the flu only self-inflicted, which meant she'd get no sympathy from anyone. Addie wrapped herself in the duvet, waves of nausea adding to her misery. Her brain felt like it would swell beyond the capacity of her skull and now her dehydration was too obvious to ignore. She raised one heavy eyelid half way only for it to fall shut. Her stomach lurched and gurgled at the sight of a red Gatorade and two blue pills on her night stand. At least the thick curtains were drawn, leaving the room shrouded in darkness. She groaned loudly as she tried unsuccessfully to turn over.

"You'll start to feel better if you just take the medicine," came a soft and familiar voice. "I know you

prefer Lemon-Lime Gatorade but they were out. Plus, that would probably burn more throwing it up."

Addie attempted to lick her cracked lips with thick, stale saliva. Her voice was hoarse when she finally croaked, "What are you doing here?"

"Despite my _man whore_ reputation," Damon emphasized, mindful to keep his voice soft, "I don't like my women sloppy drunk or even drunk to the point where consent is questionable." Damon assumed that the grunt she gave was acknowledgement that she realized Elena had told him about her 'man whore' comment. "You can imagine how pissed off I was to find you blacked out in my bed."

Addie tried to form a complete a complete sentence but between the thick layer of film coating her mouth, throbbing head and rocking of her bed, she could on manage, "Not pissed voice."

"No," Damon sighed in agreement from Addie's desk chair, running his fingers through his hair. He'd had half the day to consider how he was going to handle Addie while she slept.

He'd seen Addie tipsy. He'd been responsible for getting Addie buzzed. He'd _never_ seen Addie trashed. It wasn't like Addie to let herself get out of control like that. Elena hadn't reported that Addie had done anything outlandish - she'd been a quiet drunk - but she'd but herself in an extremely vulnerable state, which was not like her. It was even more unlike her to do it around other people. Addie had felt the need to get so wasted for a reason. Very rarely did Addie do things without purpose or intention.

"I will force feed you that Advil if I have to," Damon threatened, realizing he saw no movement from where the blankets were drawn over Addie's head.

"Not my boyfriend," came a muffled, throaty response several seconds later.

"I know. We are nothing," he stated, the first hint of cold emotion seeping into his voice. She could say whatever she wanted about his reputation. Perhaps she was smart not to sleep with him. He'd been fairly certain they'd both agreed not to, but that was besides the point. There was nothing Addie could say that could hurt him more than calling them _nothing._

It Addie about another half hour before she could tolerate moving her head and body enough to reach for the Gatorade and painkillers. She took the medicine and swished the fruit punch flavor around in her mouth. It slightly helped with the aftertaste of vomit and tacky feeling.

"Why are you here? Doing this?" She held up the Gatorade bottle in meaning. "Bringing me home?"

Shaking his head in mild amusement, Damon chuckled bitterly, "Addie, with you, I'm a functional alcoholic in the loosest term of the word. You don't think I've had my share of brutal hangovers before you? There's always a reason."

"Mmm." Addie wasn't going to be the open to open that hurricane. "So, you're here because you're a nosy gossip."

"No. I'm here because I'm worried about you," Damon said evenly. He expected Addie to be difficult and to push him away. It was surprising how much easier it was to keep his mind focused on Addie with Elena out of the house.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not," he retorted sharply, "and I think I know why."

"Enlighten me, Dr. Phil," Addie said, putting on her best smart-ass grin.

Nonplussed by her attitude Damon replied, "Elena's sired to me."

Instantly Addie began heaving. Red Gatorade and bile flooded into a wastebasket Damon barely had time to shove under her mouth. He held her hair back and made soothing, shushing noises as she heaved. Tears from the strain of vomiting and emotional turmoil ran down her face when she finally stopped.

"Come here," Damon murmured, placing his cool hand on the back of her neck and guiding her head to rest on his shoulder as she silently trembled. He could feel his shirt getting wet but didn't mind. Wrapping his arms around Addie Damon whispered, "It'll be ok, Ads. I'll cure her and it'll break the bond."

Addie forced herself to pull away from Damon sooner than she was ready. She couldn't rely on him. She could remind herself to breathe. To keep her mind clearer, she scooted further away from Damon.

"The sire bond affects you, too," she whispered, wiping at her eyes.

Damon nodded slowly, as to not alarm her. "Stefan mentioned you said the sire bond kind of works both ways. He and Caroline didn't know what that meant."

Her lips pressed into a thin, nervous line. She didn't even want to broach the issue unless it was necessary. Unsure of what answer she wanted she asked, "You're sure Elena's sired to you?"

"Yeah. I told her it would really make me happy if she could drink from a blood bag and I believed she could do it if she tried again and she was able to," Damon explained, a shadow a sadness in his own voice.

Addie groaned, running her hands through her hair.

"Ads," he said firmly, gently grabbing hold of her wrist as she was about to repeat the action for a sixth time, "what does it mean?"

"It means this _is_ my problem. I can't _not_ fucking care! I don't want to fucking care but I have to!" Addie exclaimed as she flopped forward, curling into a ball.

Damon tilted his head slightly. This was a side of Addie he was sort of familiar with; she was talking ten steps ahead of the actual conversation.

"I can't keep up with you, Ads," he soothed, rubbing circles on her back. "Walk me through it."

Her words were muffled and rushed as she spoke into the blanket, "The sire bond means you're not in full control of yourself. Mostly you will say or do things you don't necessarily want to. Everyone's going to feel bad for Elena because she has to do whatever you say but I _know_ you would never abuse the sire bond like that. The bond can be broken on Elena's end by curing her. _Everyone_ is going to be working to cure Elena. That won't necessarily break the bond for you. There's no guarantee to break the bond for you. I have to be the one watching out for you and defending you and protecting you in all of this because no one else will. They will all be concerned about _Elena_. They all love her. Stefan and I are the only ones who love you. But Stefan's already vilified you in this whole thing. It is my problem. I have to care. I have to care about breaking the bond on your end because nobody else is going to give a fuck whether or not you have complete control of who you are. And I _know_ how important it is to be in control of yourself because I'm _never_ in control of my feelings."

By the end of her rant Addie was choking on her words and gasping for breath. Damon knew she wanted distance from him but he could also see how alone she felt. Deciding instant comfort was better, he allowed his chest to cover her back in a massive bear hug. He slowly rocked them, knowing it would calm her down faster. He knew he had a short window of time before she pushed him away when her breathing returned to normal.

"I love you, Addie," Damon prefaced, the words washing over her in a familiar whisper. "I'm so sorry I got you into this."

Damon tensed as he felt Addie do the same beneath him. He hadn't intended to apologize but that was what came out. "I'm sorry falling in love with me has caused you so much trouble. If I could wave a magic wand and make it so you didn't care about me, I would, just to stop your pain." Damon blinked the tears from his eyes as he tucked his nose right behind her ear and whispered, "I need you to know, though, that I've never had someone believe in me or love me like you do. The fact that you care about _me_ in this and what control I have over myself, it means more than I could ever say. Ads, I know I am a horrible person. I've never done anything to deserve your love but it means the world to me."

Addie felt a few of Damon's tears mingle with her own on her cheek. She couldn't bare to ask him if he was a horrible person and had never done anything to deserve her love because she was only the consolation prize the whole time. If their relationship was real and true, Damon had proved time and time again that he wasn't horrible and was worthy of all of her love and more.

A dark, twisted part of her was just as eager as Klaus to see if her natural bond with Damon was stronger than the sire bond.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews, favorites and follows! They truly make my dreary days =)**

 **I hope this new twist on the sire bond isn't too confusing. I think it will play out interestingly.**


	9. Chapter 9

Damon leaned on the door frame that led to the parlor, watching Elena pick up empty champagne flutes and liquor bottles from the night before. There was a baser part of him that wanted to go to her and envelope her into a hug after their brief separation but he was able to resist it. He could tell that it wasn't the same way he missed Addie when they didn't spend a night or day together but he wasn't able to tell how. Elena's presence made it harder and harder to clearly think about Addie since she'd become a vampire. Was that the sire bond?

"I'd hope to have this cleaned up by the time you got back," Elena commented, not turning to look at him.

Damon frowned, catching the bitterness in her voice. He couldn't fathom what he had possibly done wrong. "It's not a big deal. You should have seen how Stefan trashed the house during his Ripper phase," he commented, trying to lighten the mood.

"I just asked you to take Addie home. What else did you do?" Elena demanded. She had not been impressed with her little sister vomiting copious amounts of alcohol and then blacking out in Damon's bed. They were broken up.

Damon ran a hand through his hair and then quickly fixed it once he realized what he had done. Appearing disheveled was a sign of vulnerability. It was one thing for Addie to see him like that but Elena could not.

Warily he sighed, "Are you going to be just as jealous and insecure about her as she is about you?"

"No," she retorted defensively; she was better than that. "I just thought you'd be back sooner."

"Addie's never drank like that. I stayed there until she woke up. I wanted to make sure she was ok," Damon explained.

Placing a hand on her hip, Elena scowled as she faced him, "It's her own fault if she's hungover. We've all been there."

"I needed to talk to her. I wanted to make sure she was ok," Damon repeated, his words slower.

"I'm not apologizing for saying I might have slept with you," Elena said defiantly, holding her head up higher. "She and Caroline were being really shitty about you."

Damon dragged a hand down his face, grateful he didn't have a sister. Women were so catty. "They both had every reason to. I fucked Caroline over; I expect her to hate me. And Addie is an emotional mess right now; I don't expect her to have a nice word to say about me or anyone."

"So, like always, Addie gets a free pass on her bratty behavior?" Elena whined. "You're just like my parents!"

Damon tilted his head back and laughed dryly, "What do you want me to do, Elena? Yell at her? Ground her?" He threw his hands up in exasperation and exclaimed, "You two are so fucking ridiculous. She doesn't get a _free pass_. You know what it's like to be depressed because of death and you understand why you feel bad. For Addie, it's so much worse because the issue is _literally_ all in her head. Every thought is a battle. Every breath is a war. She doesn't get a _free pass_ ; I'm not going to make her feel worse. And her thoughts are so damn distorted that -" his tirade was cut off as he suddenly remembered the power of the sire bond. When Elena looked at him quizzically he carefully continued, "That she loves you unconditionally but her issues can sometimes express that love as rage and anger."

"That sounds like you're making excuses for her anger at me," Elena said, wanting to trust Damon but still doubting him.

He shook his head as he moved closer to Elena. "I understand it perfectly. My relationship with Stefan is very much like yours and Addie's," he exhaled, gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I blamed Stefan for making me turn and promised him an eternity of misery for that."

"Addie blames me for the death of our parents," Elena whispered, trying to see the parallel.

Damon nodded but shrugged helplessly. "I still need my brother, though. We can spend decades apart but we always go seeking each other out. We love each other and nothing will ever break that. Sometimes we hurt each other, usually unintentionally. I didn't mean to come between you and Stefan."

"And coming between you and Addie hurt her. And she was probably shitty about you last night because she was hurt by both of us," Elena realized.

"Yes," Damon chuckled, resting his forehead against Elena's in relief.

"And you had to check on her because I basically had a girls' night to flaunt our new relationship," she understood with crushing despair.

Damon took a step back a point a finger in her face as he emphasized, "We're not in a relationship, yet. We have complicated feelings for each other. Which, uh, we actually need to talk about."

"I know that I'm sired to you, Damon. Caroline told me. That's what you and Stefan were doing last night, isn't it? Trying to figure out how to break the bond? Is there a way to break it?

A small wave of relief washed over Damon. Had Caroline told Elena that the sire bond affected him, too?

"It was also why I needed to talk to Addie. We don't know a way of breaking it beyond curing you as of right now," Damon admitted dejectedly.

Frantically she began to say, "Tyler told me the bond doesn't affect how I feel, just the way I act. My feelings for you haven't changed, Damon. Nothing has changed."

Forcefully Damon said, "Everything's changed, Elena."

"Okay, fine, yeah, I mean, I've changed. So have you, Damon. And I'm happy. Just like you were yesterday morning eating breakfast before we knew about any of this."

Damon shook his head quickly, finally having a second of clarity, a second of control. He rushed out, "You know what would make me happy?" Like a rubber band stretched too tight, his control snapped. He hadn't been able to tell Elena that he wanted thing to go back to the way they way. He couldn't tell her he just wanted to go back to Addie and reassure her that she wasn't fighting a losing battle in breaking the sire bond. Instead, against his will he said, "To know that this entire time that I've been falling for you, that what you actually felt for me was real."

Damon's stomach knotted painfully at the sound of his own words. They tasted foul on his tongue; they weren't true.

"It is real. I know that it is." Elena insisted. She walked closer to him until they were merely inches apart. Looking up into his eyes she pleaded, "Damon, I know what you're about to do. Please, don't do this to me."

Damon swallowed hard. He hadn't discussed it with Addie but he and Stefan learned from a witch in New Orleans that he could free Elena if he told her to live her life without him, never think of him again, and to stop caring about him. It was not the optimal choice at all. Even if he didn't know how he really felt about Elena now, he knew that he had cared for her as a friend before the sire bond and he had appreciated the relationship he'd had with her.

"I don't want to do this, Elena! I'm not the good guy, remember? I'm the selfish one. I take what I want. I do what I want. I lie to my brother, I fall for his girl, I don't do the right thing," Damon ranted, furious at himself because he knew he would not have enough self-control to let Elena go. He didn't know if it was because of who he was or because of the sire bond. He floundered for one last statement that would hopefully give him the strength as he told Elena weakly, "But I have to do the right thing by you."

Elena gently took his hand and placed it against her heart. Immediately, Damon felt his own pulse sync up with hers. His breathing soon matched her even pattern. He felt lightheaded.

Insistently she asked, "Does this feel wrong?"

It didn't.

Tenderly her hand cupped his cheek and repeated, "Does this feel wrong?"

 _Yes, yes, yes!_ His brain scream. Her hand was too cold and her fingers reached too high on his cheek. Her grip was too hard. She didn't cradle his face the way Addie did. Still, he had to resist the urge from slamming her into the wall and kissing her senseless.

Ripping her hand away from his face he sneered, "Don't touch me."

"Ok," Elena breathed obediently. Through heavy lids she looked up at him and murmured seductively, "You're still touching me, though."

Simultaneously their eyes fell to where his hand rested on her chest. Without his knowledge his fingers had dipped under the edge of her sweater and were tracing her prominent collarbone.

Though he could force himself to move away from her, using all his willpower he was able to reluctantly grumble, "You'll stay in Stefan's room from now on, on the other side of the house. We will bump into each other less."

"Alright," she mumbled dejectedly.

"Starting now." Damon tried to pull his hand away but couldn't. It made him furious at himself. From the tips of his fingers to the base of his spine he felt electrified and alive. He had to keep reminding himself that it was only his body reacting to Elena. His heart still wanted Addie. In defeat he scowled, "I need you to leave, now. I'll finish cleaning."

* * *

Addie sat up in the attic, which her father had converted into a makeshift studio. She'd finally found the need and strength to go back up their after the car accident with Elena. Her night of binge drinking and breaking down in front of Damon had broken down the walls holding her depression at bay. Music flowed freely from her whenever the emotions got to be too much. Jeremy had his art; Elena had her diaries and Addie had her music.

Her thoughts and emotions were still so scattered that she hadn't been able to complete a full song but she had melodies, bridges, lyrics, rhythms, and beats for a budding collection.

It was also easier to stay locked up in her studio than face Jeremy, school, or Damon. In the cocoon of her music she could pretend they didn't exist. She'd only left the room over the course of a week to shower and eat while Jeremy was at school. She'd been leaving her phone in her bedroom to avoid being contacted. If there was a catastrophe, they would figure out where to find her.

Her finger hovered over the playback button as she heard the attack hatch open. A crick formed in her neck as she spun around to see who dared to enter her private domain. She scowled as Damon's face, red and blotchy with anger, popped up at the top of the rope ladder.

"Addison Gilbert, get your ass down here right now," he barked.

"I'm not sired to you," Addie snapped back, swiveling back around in her chair.

She was about to blast music as she originally intended when Damon threatened, "If I have to come up there, I am unplugging every single wire and I know you don't have everything saved."

She hesitated; her finger resting on the key, torn between the desire to defy him and scared that he wasn't bluffing. Eventually, she decided not to test him. It was rare to see him so full of rage.

"Give me two minutes to save everything and I'll be right there," she seethed in annoyance.

Damon paced the hallway as he waited for Addie. He hated being stern with her but somebody had to. She'd ditched classes for a week and had been avoiding everyone. When Bonnie had asked Jeremy if he had seen his sister he said he couldn't recall. He understood that Addie could get broody and solitary but she couldn't just cut everybody off. She couldn't cut _him_ off.

He needed to talk to someone about what was going on. Stefan wasn't an option since Damon hadn't freed Elena as his brother demanded. Alaric was dead. Everything he said around Elena could be taken literally so he had to censor himself. Plus, being around Elena was an odd combination of bliss and misery. The more he was around her the harder it was to remember Addie. If Addie was going to cut herself off from society, she could of at least had the decency to include him. Being day drunk by himself wasn't fun. They could at least brood and commiserate together.

"What's got your boxers in a bunch?" Addie snarled as she stood on the tips of her toes to close the hatch to the attic.

"Your attitude!" Damon exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Your sister and I are worried sick about you."

"I'm fine," Addie said slowly, peering at him skeptically. He wasn't lying but she didn't get why he was so outraged. "Besides, Elena's only worried about me if you've told her to be."

"Addie, you've missed a week of practice. You've missed a week of school. _You missed finals_."

"My grades aren't in jeopardy," she pointed out reasonably. "I made sure of that. I haven't lost my mind. I just needed to focus on making my music so I wouldn't.'

His brow furrowed in confusion as he inquired, "How do you know you're not going to fail all your classes?"

Her arms crossed defiantly as she demanded to know, "Are you going to get me in trouble with Elena?"

"No," Damon huffed in exasperation. "I'm not here to tattle on you. I try not to tell your personal things to Elena. I'm only going to talk to Elena if I think you're unsafe."

Addie exhaled loudly, annoyed at having to explain herself. " When we broke up I forged a doctor's note saying I would be out the rest of semester. I haven't been to school since then." At Damon's look of incredulity she continued reassuringly, "Most of my teachers gave me alternate assignments or gave me the rest of the work for the semester. I'm actually ahead in most of my classes. If I work over the Christmas break, I could probably graduate early."

"Oh my god," Damon muttered to himself, running his hand through his hair. Addie's moral compass didn't always point true north but it was usually a little more accurate than forging medical notes. Had he been such a bad influence on her or was that the depression?

"Damon, I've been forging fake sick notes since I got a hold of my father's stationary when I was 12. It has nothing to do with you," Addie grumbled, understanding his expression and utterance. She pushed past him and unlocked the door to her bedroom.

"Does it have to do with the depression?"

Leaving the door open so he could follow, Addie sulked into her room as she carefully chose her words. She didn't like admitting to being depressed. "I needed time off to work on my music and clear my head."

"I've noticed you make an abundance of music when you have an overflow of feelings," he stated, trying to get a more solid answer.

Addie didn't respond as she glanced at her cellphone. There were 6 voicemails, 17 new text messages, and 11 missed calls. She hadn't checked any of it for the past three days. She hadn't responded to anyone since the morning she woke up hungover.

"Are you going to the Winter Wonderland charity event tonight?" Damon asked, changing tactics. When Addie wanted to be stubborn she could. In a battle of wills, Addie could usually defeat him and he was pretty headstrong.

She snorted as she glanced up at him, "Is that a joke? Me, being fancy, in a crowd? Alone?"

Damon tried to hold back his jealousy as he retorted, "It wouldn't be the first time you went to a party just for Klaus."

"I haven't talked to Klaus since he gave me information on the sire bond," Addie dismissed, oblivious to the envy in Damon's voice.

"Oh. Elena and I are meeting Jeremy at the Lake House," Damon said as he leaned against her desk, trying to sound casual.

Addie hummed thoughtfully at that, "I think if he kills both of you to grow his tattoo that kind of defeats the purpose of him killing any vampires."

The corners of Damon's lips twitched slightly but not enough to be considered a smile. He missed Addie being a smart-ass.

"Bonnie is going to teach him how to not kill your sister. I figured I should go just in case Bonnie fails and I need to jump in. We don't need a repeat of Jeremy stabbing Elena in the neck."

"Hey, turn around is fair play," Addie quipped back readily. "Jeremy was just getting payback for Elena stabbing him in the neck first. In case you don't remember, Elena actually managed to kill Jeremy. I think Jeremy is the one you should be concerned about."

"At the time, Jeremy wasn't a hulked out hunter with a thirst to kill vampires. In addition, Elena was under the Hunter's Curse and thought he was Connor. It wasn't her fault," Damon rebutted.

"It's not Jeremy's fault he wants to kill all vampires. He never would have been activated as a Hunter if you hadn't told him!"

"It was that or your sister was going to off herself," Damon bit back just as quickly, taking a step closer to Addie.

Addie scoffed in disgust and glowered, "Which, again, was _your fault_. Elena never would have been under the Hunter's Curse if you hadn't told her to kill Connor."

Damon's nostrils flared slightly and pupils dilated as he took another step closers.

"Why the hell are you grinning like the damn Cheshire Cat?" she demanded.

He hadn't realized he was. All Damon was aware of was how irresistible he found the spark in Addie's wide, sea blue eyes when she became passationate. The smile never left his face as he said huskily, "I miss getting my ass whipped in a battle of wits against you."

"Damon," Addie said slowly, her face falling.

"I know," he sighed, stepping back and putting his hands up in surrender. "We're nothing. I'm sorry. I'll behave. I just… I miss being around you. It's like my head is clearer and everything makes a little more sense when I'm with you."

"Than when you're with Elena?" Addie added for him, already knowing the answer.

Damon nodded and asked hesitantly, "It's because I don't have as much control over myself when I'm around her, isn't?"

"It's that noticeable?" she wondered a little sadly.

"Definitely," he answered without pause, "but being with you is like being grounded back in reality. I try to think of you when I'm with her but that's getting harder and harder to do, especially with you shutting me out."

Addie's Converse clad feet shuffled guiltily. Klaus thought her bond with Damon might be strong enough to break the sire bond. Based on what Damon was saying, that seemed plausible. Addie had sworn that she would look out for Damon and help him break the bond so he could have control over himself. Unfortunately for her, Damon felt more in control when he was around her. She'd been afraid of that. She was going to have to be near Damon for him to have a chance at breaking the sire bond on his part.

How was she the one who ended up screwed in all of this? All she wanted to do was end a relationship to avoid more heartache. She was going to have to physically be around Damon and keep him emotionally distant. The chances of her being able to do that were slim; the last time she tried, she had fallen in love with him.

"Come out to the lake house," he blurted out abruptly. When he saw the sharp look of distaste on Addie's face he begged, "Please. Maybe I'll think clearer around Elena with you around."

Cursing the feeling of guilt Addie kicked her heel into her dresser. Scornfully she answered, "Fine but I'm not riding with you guys."

* * *

Addie sat in a corner of the lake house living room on the floor with her laptop balanced on her crossed knees. She hid her face behind her computer screen as she tried not to laugh. This had to have been one of the stupidest ideas her friends and siblings had ever come up with. The moment Jeremy had invited Elena inside he'd tried to stake her. There was no way they were going to be able to _deprogram_ a Hunter. That's what Damon had called it before stepping outside to take a phone call.

Bonnie had enlisted the help of Professor Shane, who'd been helping her tap into a magic known as Expression. The professor had started a ticking metronome with a pendulum that swung back and forth. And, of course, candles were lit. Why did all magical rituals require candles?

Jeremy's wrists were tied down with thick, leather straps to a chair by Professor Shane. He'd also been instructed to close his eyes. Bonnie and Elena sat next to each other on the couch, across from Jeremy. Her brother appeared to be in a hypnotized trance.

The idea was that Jeremy's Hunter brain saw a vampire and the response was to kill the vampire, even if he didn't want to consciously. Each time he tried to kill Elena it was his subconscious calling the shots.

Addie tried not to laugh at the irony of it all. Subconsciously Damon, even if he didn't want her consciously. It was his subconscious calling the shots around her. Elena had no control over her conscious or subconscious if Damon decided to invoke the sire bond. And she had no control over her subconscious mental illness. Sometimes Addie didn't even have control of her conscious thoughts when the panic and anxiety set in.

Sitting on the table next to Jeremy, Professor Shane explained to Elena, "Think of it as kind of a conditioned response, right? See vampire, kill vampire. What I'm doing is creating kind of a middle step. It's like a detour, where his subconscious learns to recognize you as someone he loves, someone he wants to protect. And that gives him a choice. He can choose to take the detour instead of the conditioned response. Okay. Talk to him. He'll listen."

Elena hesitated, "I'm not sure what to say."

"You chose to do this here at your family's vacation house, right? So, maybe just start by telling him why," Professor Shane suggested.

Elena nodded. Her words came out slowly, as though she was carefully picking them, "Every holiday, we came here. This place was family."

Addie felt her face heat with anger. That wasn't true. The last holidays, the ones right after their parents died, they had not spent them at the lake house. She had wanted to but Elena had been too obsessed with Stefan. Her parents had always gone overboard for Christmas but Jenna had treated it just like any other weekend. And Jeremy… Addie still wasn't sure what Jeremy had done the previous Christmas but she knew Damon had compelled away his suffering and he was happy.

Her hardened eyes flashed to the group when she noticed nobody was talking. Jeremy had opened his eyes and was looking blankly at Elena. Bonnie was smiling as she looked between them.

More certainly Elena continued, "They would have wanted us to stick together, Jer. To fight for each other, no matter what."

When it was clear Elena was at a loss for words Professor Shane asked, "Jeremy, how do you feel about Elena right now?"

Elena looked at him eagerly. The situation even held Addie's interests mildly. She wasn't convinced it was going to work but still. A therapist had tried to hypnotize her once but they had never been able to get her into a trance, probably because she had still believed in only hard science at that time.

Cold and emotionless Jeremy replied, "She ruined our lives. She ruined my life and she ruined Addie's life. She's not even our real sister. She's just the reason that everyone we've ever loved has died. Addie's right to hate her. She means nothing to me. I will kill her even if that means I die myself.

Professor Shane rapped his knuckles against the wooden table, bringing Jeremy out of his trance. He looked from Shane to Elena.

Hopefully he asked, "Did it work?"

"It's hypnosis. Did any of y'all actually believe it would work?" Addie asked bitterly as she stood up to go outside. It had hurt to hear Jeremy say he believed Addie hated Elena. She wasn't _fond_ of her sister for multiple reasons and she could exactly disagree with anything Jeremy had said but she didn't _hate_ Elena. Jeremy and Elena were the two people Addie knew she loved unconditionally.

 _And Damon_ , a small part of her subconscious reminded her.

* * *

"I heard you're a hypnosis hater," Damon sighed, sitting on the dock next to Addie.

"No," Addie grumbled, noticing how much longer his legs were than hers as they dangled over the edge. "I'm just a realist. Nothing is ever that easy for us."

"True," he murmured. His boot gently nudged at her blue Converse; she tapped back at him lightly. "Do you remember the first time I came out here?"

"Yeah," Addie snorted bitterly. "I told you I felt like I didn't have control over myself and yet I had way too much control. Turns out that was because you had compelled me to _take control_ of my life. Oh, and you lied to me when I asked you ever compelled me, which I didn't detect for some reason."

"That's not what I was referring to," Damon said slowly. The fact that he had ever compelled her was still a touchy subject. "Do you remember what I told you on our first official date about that night?"

Her brows furrowed as she stared down into the lake. Damon had taken her up to the Boardwalk because it was like the school carnival she had missed. He'd kissed her on-top of the Farris Wheel when he discovered her fear of heights. He'd gotten naeusated way before she had at all the spinning rides. He'd won her a stuffed werewolf and said it could protect her from him. He'd walked her to her door and kissed her goodnight.

"I don't like playing your guessing games. Get to your point," Addie growled out through clenched teeth. She didn't realize her jaw had snapped closed as her mind tried to push back all the happy memories of that first date and the feelings that went with them.

Damon's lips pressed into a thin line as he resisted the urge to yell at her. He could see her pushing him away. She may have agreed to come to the cabin but she wasn't allowing that emotional connection he needed. The only reason he didn't yell was because he knew it was the depression that made her think she was better off without him. She didn't want to be reminded that the night that they sat curled up on the couch, her falling asleep in his arms, was the first time he _acknowledged_ to himself that he felt something for her.

"It doesn't matter," Damon huffed as he stood up and brushed his pants off. He would tell Addie about his idea if it actually worked.

* * *

Elena hunched over a box marked _Christmas Decorations_ in the coat closet and mumbled out the side of her mouth, "Addie's been sitting in that corner for the last three hours."

"I noticed," Damon said just as quietly, careful to not be overheard. "I bet she's working on school work."

"Her eyes haven't moved for the past two hours except to blink," Elena shot back in concern. "She's completely zoned out."

"Maybe she's going over every line of _Macbeth_ in her head," he suggested as he followed Elena into the dinning area. That had actually been what she had told him she was doing before. He didn't doubt she had the mental ability to memorize the entire Shakespeare play. "It wouldn't be the first time."

Elena bit at her lip nervously and opened the box to keep her hands busy. Addie _would_ do something like that but it was still unsettling to watch her little sister sit on the floor emotionless as so many paramount things went on around her. Professor Shane had revealed that they didn't need the Hunter's sword to decode the Hunter's mark in order to find the cure. The cure was bury with the immortal named Silas. Professor Shane had been there and could lead them there again. Therefore, they didn't need to work with Klaus anymore. Jeremy's mark actually told the story of how Silas came to be entombed. Damon had suggested that Jeremy find someone else to attach his feelings to, which had been Bonnie, and they seemed to be making progress with the hypnosis.

"Jer, Ad, and I should take these decorations home with us. We could use the holiday cheer," Elena said as she held up a tangled string of lights.

Damon smirked at her, "Look at you, suddenly poly optimist."  
"With the exception of my sister, things are looking up. I think Shane's gonna get us through this. I trust him," Elena nodded certainly.

Scoffing, Damon shook his head and rolled his eyes. Addie would never have been fooled into trusting anyone so easily.

Elena frowned. "But you clearly don't."

"Maybe because I think he blew up twelve people at the Young farm," he answered off-handedly.

"What?" she gasped.

"Little tip, Professor," Damon said a little louder, making the eavesdropper's presence known, "I heard you before you even took your first step."

Professor Shane stepped through the doorway and replied stiffly, "I see we're back to the false accusation part of our relationship."

"What is he talking about?" Elena demanded of Professor Shane.

"Damon discovered that I was in contact with Pastor Young prior to the explosion at the Young farm," he explained as he walked over towards Elena, ignoring Damon's glare. "The Pastor was severely depressed. He had lost his wife to cancer and he sought me out for a little supernatural assistance. I tried to help but he was too far gone. I just – I never expected that he would take eleven innocents with him."

Elena looked at Damon, her chocolate eyes wide with fear and worry. Again, Damon couldn't resist rolling his own. The guy was full of such shit and was freaking Elena out for no reason. Addie was not going to kill herself or anybody else.

* * *

Professor Shane left after Bonnie successfully deprogrammed Jeremy. They, along with Elena, were gathered in the kitchen sorting through Christmas decorations.

Damon balanced on the balls of his feet as he squatted in front of Addie in a corner of the living room. He waved his hand in front of her face, making sure to cross between the screen of her laptop. She didn't react. Filling his lungs with courage and air, Damon took the laptop from her and set it aside.

Addie looked up blankly at Damon as she accused, "I was hiding behind that."

"I know," Damon replied flatly. He sat against the wall, close enough so that their shoulders and arms touched.

"I didn't invite you to sit down," she pointed out, still annoyed.

"I know," he repeated.

Simultaneously they said, "Go away."

Addie scowled at him as he looked at her sympathetically.

"I know _you_ , Ads," Damon shrugged defensively. "I don't pity you. I just know you. I've been you."

" _Then why can't you leave me alone?,"_ Addie wanted to scream. Instead, tugging on her ear to indicate being overhead, she said, "I'm not having this conversation."

"I'm not talking about you," he said softly. Ashamed, he admitted, "I'm here because I need to be selfish."

He edged his hand toward hers ever so slightly, until she felt his fingertips brush her hand. Instinctively, she unfurled her fingers for him and let his slip around hers until she could feel his palm pressed against her own. Addie felt her own tension subside in the familiar, strong, sturdy grasp. There was nothing romantic about it but it still felt like dropping off the first hill of a rollercoaster. She had forgotten just how powerful his touch was.

"I'm sorry," Addie whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. She needed him to know she was sorry that he was hurting but she didn't want Elena to hear. "I know you, _too_ , Damon."

"I know you do," Damon smiled, taking a deep breath of her cucumber melon shampoo as his cheek brush her soft, burgundy locks. He returned the gentle squeeze she gave his fingers. "I'm sorry I'm selfish and demand your attention."

Addie wanted to apologize for being crazy but she knew Damon would disagree with that. She settled for another truth. She knew her mental health could make her high maintenance and highly self-absorbed. "It's ok; we're both selfish."

Addie was right. This was right. It had always been right. Damon continued to inhale deep breaths of reassurance and comfort. His hormones didn't shoot out of control holding Addie's hand like they did every time he touched Elena. Holding Addie's hand was so much more intense because he knew the connection he had with her was real. His mind had truly stopped racing when his fingertips prodded her burning skin. Within seconds of clasping her hand he had stopped hating himself for not doing right by anyone and not freeing Elena of the sire bond. Her words, the fact that she _knew_ him, was enough to give him the strength to do what he needed to do. He'd hadn't had the willpower and control to do it before but with Addie tethering him to everything that was real and true, he did.

"Promise me you won't leave until we talk?" Damon pleaded as he reluctantly unthreaded his fingers from hers.

"Yeah."

* * *

A thin layer of ice had coated the docks with nightfall. Addie stood carefully at the edge. The winter wind howled through the trees and whipped at the lake, sending large ripples in the lake. Her goal was to listen close enough that she could hear the water splashing against the wood beams beneath her. The wood creaked behind her.

"You'll get hypothermia if you fall in," Damon said gently as his arm looped around her waist so he could force her to take a step back from the edge.

"You wouldn't let me. You'd jump in and save me just like you saved Elena," Addie murmured certainly.

"True. Still, I'd rather not go for an icy swim."

She frowned as she recognized the scent under his faint cologne. "You've been drinking."

"I'm not drunk," Damon immediately said defensively.

"I know you're not. You just don't usually drink enough to smell like alcohol when you're around people," Addie explained. Her own brooding thoughts subsided as her eyebrows knitted together with concern for Damon.

"I waited until after Elena left with Bonnie and Jeremy went back to the house to get some clothes for a couple of days," he half explained, shoving his hands in his pocket. While he was immune to the cold, Addie wasn't. He didn't want to have this discussion outside.

"Oh," Addie said as she processed his words. She could have sworn she'd only heard one car leave. "Why is Jeremy getting clothes?"

"We're going to stay up here for a bit and I'm going to train him how to hunt vampires without getting himself killed," Damon reasoned, turning back towards the cabin. Perhaps if he started walking, she would follow.

"Ok." Addie could sense Damon was holding something back but she wasn't going to force him to talk. She looked at where he stepped and carefully matched it.

"Jeremy said I could take the master bedroom. Is that ok?" Damon asked as they entered the cabin.

Despite finding the question odd, Addie nodded in response. His hand clasped hers as he led her to the room.

"Damon, what's going on?" she demanded, refusing to move her feet.

Damon's mouth opened and closed three times, at a loss for words. He ran his free hand through his hair and muttered, "Fuck, Ads. I don't know. I want to lay with you and talk to you like I used to. I won't touch you if you don't want me to but…." Damon trailed off helplessly and again tugged at his hair in frustration. "Gods, Ads."

"Alright," Addie agreed as she placed a soothing hand on Damon's bicep. She understood what he wouldn't say. "Damon, when I feel bad, don't do you whatever you can to make me feel better?"

"Yes but-"

"Shut up," Addie said commandingly, in full control now. Damon could hide it a lot better than she could but he was still in obvious crisis. Her issues were put on the back burner. Damon had helped her more times than she could count and this was her chance to return the favor.

Her fingers delicately wrapped around his wrist as she pulled him to the bedroom. She decided not to turn on the light as the bright moon shined directly through the window. Addie commanded Damon take off his jacket and shoes as she did the same.

Damon sat on the edge of the bed, mesmerized as he watched Addie root through a liquor cabinet.

"Vodka or tequila?" she asked, her head buried in the cabinet.

"Huh?"

"My father favored vodka. My mother favored tequila," Addie said, looking at him over her shoulder. She scowled as she figured out what he was looking at. "Stop staring at my ass, Damon."

"It's relaxing," he stated unabashedly. Remembering her question, he added, "I don't really like tequila or vodka. I don't really need a drink. Thank you, though."

They both knew that was a lie but Addie let it go as she straightened up and closed the cabinet.

As Damon stretched out on one side of the bed she suggested, "You'll probably want to stock that with some of your stash if you're going to be staying out here to work with Jeremy. I learned a lot of my thick headedness from him."

"I'll be sure to remember that," Damon mumbled as he patted the empty space next to him. "You were thinking on the dock. I'm sorry for disturbing you," he apologized when he finally felt the bed shift.

Lying flat on her back, Addie's hand slid across the mattress to squeeze his. "It wasn't anything I can't think about later. You don't want to admit it and I don't _like_ saying this mushy, melodramatic stuff but you deserve to hear it. I know you need me, Damon, and I'm here for you however I can be."

"Will you hold me?" Damon asked, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. He missed just being able to curl up next to Addie without asking but she was being so generous to take time out for him and he didn't want to push any boundaries.

There was a stabbing pain in the center of her chest and Addie had to mimic chewing to combat her suddenly dry mouth. The trepidation and nervousness in Damon's voice was crushing. Addie much preferred his usual arrogance and bravado. His pain was brutally apparent to her.

Silently, Addie let go of his hand and held out her arm. Damon tucked one arm around her waist and draped the other across her stomach, the fingers of both hands setting gently on her hip. He rested his ear just below the hollow of her throat, taking comfort from the steady beating of her heart. One of her arms rested on his own, her hand sliding just under the hem at his bicep. Her free hand gently toyed with his hair, brushing it off of his brow in steady sweeps.

Damon allowed himself to finally settle into Addie. She was letting him as close to her as she could. The tender stroking of his arm and playing with his hair were extra things beyond holding him that she knew would relax him. She didn't have to do those things. She'd only agreed to talk to him. The fact that she was making herself as emotionally available to him as possible finally crumbled all of his walls and defenses.

He'd been _miserable_ since Addie had broken up with him. He'd barely eaten enough to keep from desiccating. Sleep was a blessing from reality when it would finally come. Prior to finding out about the sire bond, it had been easier it walk around in a drunken stupor. But he couldn't afford to do that once he had known he already lacked complete control of himself around Elena. He couldn't bare to think about the Elena situation yet. Being away from Addie was utterly exhausting.

"It's ok," Addie soothed as she felt a tear splash on her chest. His fingers dug into her hip as another one fell. "It's alright, honey. I'm right here."

The pet name brought Damon out of his own thoughts. It was extremely rare for Addie to use it. He hadn't realized he'd started crying and wasn't quite sure why he was. His voice trembled as he confessed, "I miss you more than you can fathom."

The soft, dark locks of Damon's hair tickled Addie's face as she pressed a kiss to the crown of his head, a reassuring gesture he had done to her hundreds of times. She didn't want to tell Damon the truth but he wouldn't use it against her and this wasn't a time to be prideful.

"Damon, I get it," she agreed defeatedly. "My feelings and emotions for you haven't just stopped but I get through it by pushing you away. I subscribe to the theory out of sight, out of mind."

Although, even as she said it, some part of Addie knew it was a lie. She knew she missed Damon but she didn't miss him as much as she should or even wanted to miss him. The break up hadn't hurt like she'd expected. The pain was there but something was dulling it. It was like all her emotions were on but none were operating at full capacity. Addie quickly shut down her thoughts before they turned too personal and focused on Damon.

"I happen to think absence makes the heart grow fonder," Damon countered eventually. He wanted to ask her why she would even put them through this but he knew why: the depression.

"I could show you a number of psychological studies that state that's not true."

"I could show you a number of psychological studies that state it's true," Damon retorted with a slight smirk. He'd had a feeling Addie would challenge his opinion. "Psychology is bittersweet because it's not an exact science."

"Bittersweet is synonymous with annoying," Addie grumbled, pouting slightly. She'd hoped Damon would just take her at her word. She usually had a pretty good idea of what subjects she was better versed on than him.

"It's so rare I win an argument legitimately," he snickered.

"I just let you so you would smile," she countered, brushing her thumb along the aforementioned grin.

Damon seriously doubted. Nevertheless, he lightly kissed the pad of her finger and murmured throatily, "Well, thank you, then."

Addie tensed and pulled her hand away from his face. That had been too intimate. She reminded herself to keep breathing as she lightly smacked his shoulder and accused, "You had no intention of talking, did you? Your goal was just to get me into bed."

"No," Damon sighed soberly as his attention was refocused to the issue. He began to pull away from Addie guiltily until he felt her small hand on the center of his back, holding him in place.

"I was just teasing you," Addie said apologetically. "I know you haven't had any bad intentions."

The moonlight reflected in her eyes as he looked into them and said seriously, "I'm using you."

"Damon, remember how you held me after I told you about the sire bond?" Addie prompted.

"Because, for some unknown reason, you're trapped in this situation because you love me and you believe my self-control is worth saving and that's remarkably unfair to you?"

"No," Addie said stern, "because you knew how alone I felt without me even saying anything. I can see that with you, Damon. I'm ok with holding you and giving you what comfort I can for the same reason you held me."

"I did it because I love you. But this-"

She placed a finger over his lips to silence him. "Exactly. I'll do it because I love you and because I want to be here for you. It's not different because I broke us up or have been pushing you away. Just shut up and stop being so stubborn," Addie said assertively.

"You're bossy," Damon muttered. A warmth radiated in his chest as he rested his cheek back on Addie's.

"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Addie snorted, her fingers feathering through his hair again.

Damon grunted in response, allowing his eyes to drift close.

"Were you paying attention to anything that happened in the living room after we talked on the dock?" he wondered softly.

"Nope," Addie readily admitted. "I tuned everything out until you came and sat by me. I wasn't lying when I told you I'm fed up with this supernatural stuff. If I can get by with tuning it out, I'm going to."

Damon twisted and tugged at Addie's belt loop for several minutes.

"What?" she groaned in exasperation as she continuously felt Damon's jaw flexing against her chest. "What are you so obviously dying to tell me?"

"Well, I don't want to bother you with supernatural things unless it's necessary. This isn't _necessary_ ," he sulked.

Addie pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly. Damon was talking in semantics, like she did. Was she this annoying to put up with? How the hell did Damon do it? She had not rubbed off on him in the right way.

Forcing patience and understanding into her voice, Addie explained, "If it's important to you, I want to hear about it."

"I figured out how to redirect Jeremy's urges to kill a vampire on sight. Using Elena to reprogram didn't work because that's like dangling a cheeseburger in front of someone on a master cleanse. He had to redirect those feelings and attach them to something grounding," Damon explained excited. He looked up to meet her eyes as he emphasized, "Ads, it _worked._ "

Addie tried to not let the confusion show on her face as she said with forced enthusiasm, "That's amazing, Damon. How did you even come up with that?"

"You. That's what I was trying to explain on the docks. My feelings for you are the one thing I've always known to be true. They might not have always felt right or appropriate but they've always been real," he whispered intently, unable to stop himself from cupping her cheek.

Jeremy was having trouble differentiating what he really felt from what his Hunter brain felt. Addie's lips pressed together tensely as she realized the implication for Damon; he couldn't tell what was really his feelings and what was caused by the sire bond.

"Does thinking of me help when you're with Elena?" Addie pondered morbidly.

"It worked better when we were together," Damon answered honestly. "The less contact I have with you, the less time we spend together, the more… clouded things are. I remind myself of you and what I have with you and it's able to keep me from making unforgivable mistakes with your sister but it's not the same as having you with me. That's why I needed you here today."

Addie waited for Damon to continue as he rested his head on her chest again. He'd gone tense and rigid. Her lips pressed against his hair as her fingers kneaded the knotted muscles at the base off his neck. He was finally going to tell her why he wanted to talk.

"Stefan and I learned from a witch in New Orleans that I can free Elena from the sire bond by basically telling her to forget me and be happy. I couldn't break the bond that much because we're all still trying to find the cure. But, to do right by you, and my brother, and Elena, I had to invoke the sire bond," Damon said softly, his words laced with pain.

It took all of Addie's willpower to not shift anxiously. She didn't believe Damon would abuse the sire bond but the way he was so torn up about it left her concern. Hesitantly she asked, "What _exactly_ did you say?"

Damon's voice and body quivered as he flashed back to the moment, "I told her, 'You're gonna go home. I'm gonna stay here with Jeremy. I'm gonna help him complete the mark. I'll teach him how to hunt, I'll protect him, and we'll kill vampires without you. I'm setting you free, Elena. This is what I want. This is what will make me happy.'"

When Addie didn't say anything, Damon looked up at her, his eyes shimmering in the dark with unshed tears. "Was that ok?"

Addie's eyes were narrowed in thought. Why the hell hadn't it come to her before? Why hadn't anyone? "Why don't you just tell her it would make you happy if she stopped having feelings for you and went back to having feelings for Stefan?"

"Glad to see your concerned with how I independently decided to influence your sister actions," Damon spat, flopping onto his back. He didn't understand _why_ telling Elena to leave, setting her free had been so emotional and painful, but it had, and Addie had essentially dismissed his feelings. Growing angry with her, he sneered, "I thought of that. It's not compulsion, Addison. The bond only affects how she acts, not how she feels."

Addie sighed heavily, propping herself up on an elbow to me eye contact with him, "I'm not concerned about you making decisions to invoke the sire bond. Damon Salvatore, you are a good man." Her hand rested firmly above his heart as she emphasized, "You have a good heart and soul when it comes to the people you love. I'm no more concerned about you using the sire bond to take advantage of Elena than I'm concerned about you taking advantage of me because I know you love both of us."

"I don't-"

"The sire bond couldn't have formed unless you loved her, Damon."

Damon shook his head furiously. That didn't make sense. "I loved her because she was your sister and we have unconditional love for you. I loved her because she loved you," he said, trying to grasp the situation. "I wasn't… There wasn't any attraction until after she turned."

Addie tried not to scoff.

"You don't believe that," Damon uttered in distress. "You don't believe I love you _so immensely_ that it extends that deeply to those who love you." Her pale face and blank expression told him everything he needed to know; she didn't want to believe it.

"Ads," he murmured, cupping her cheeks with both hands, "my world spins because of you. The sun rises and sets because of you. You are my saving grace. You are my once in a lifetime. You see the best in me when no one else can. Right now, you are literally my tether to sanity."

Her face drew back as she pushed his hands away and stood up. Her voice was emotionless as she said, "I never asked to be any of those things. I never asked for that kind of responsibility."

"You don't have to _do_ anything. It's not any responsibility, Ads. You just have to fucking let me love you," Damon exclaimed in exasperation as he watched sit to put her socks and shoes on.

"No!" Addie yelled back.

A shot of adrenaline pierced her heart, unloading in an instant. She felt her ribs heaving, as if bound by ropes, straining to inflate my lungs. Her head was a carousel of fears spinning out of control, each one pushing her mind into blackness. She wanted to run. She needed to freeze. She wanted to clasp her hands over her ears. Her brain had stopped working. What was she supposed to do with the air after she sucked it in?

Damon's heart shattered into a million pieces as he watched Addie's knees pull into her chest, arms curl around her legs and her scrunched up face turn bright red with lack of oxygen. He'd sent her into a panic attack and he wasn't even exactly sure how. In an instant he was on his knees, next to her. Damon held her trembling body tight and began a routine.

"You need to breathe, Ads. Inhale." Mentally Damon counted to eight as he stroked her hair. "Exhale." Again, he silently counted to eight. "Inhale…. Exhale."

Pain, unbearable pain, was the only thing Addie was aware of. Pins and needles were being jabbed everywhere - her fingers, her toes, her lips, her eyes. Her sides, her lungs, screamed louder than when she ran at 110%. A boa constrictor had ripped through her chest and was squeezing the life out of her heart. Her heart was going to burst from the excruciating pressure. She was going to die. This was the end. Of all the things to kill her, it was going to be a _snake_ , not a vampire or werewolf or hybrid.

 _Wait_. That didn't make actual sense. A boa constrictor would have squeezed her entire body to kill her first; it wouldn't have ripped straight into her chest. When she realized that, Addie was able to faintly hear Damon's voice, as if he was calling to her in a whisper from across a football field.

It took nearly twenty minutes of reminding Addie how to breathe before Damon actually felt her take a large, shuddering inhale when prompted. After counting to eight, he told her to exhale, and she did. After a few minutes her fingers buried into the front of his shirt in a death grip. Her breathing was still shaky and shuddery.

 _Air_. Oxygen. It was magic. It made the pain subside. It turned back on the logic and reasoning. Addie tried to flex hair brain and used her five senses. Five things she could touch: the sock on left foot, soft linen of Damon's shirt in her fist, Damon's fingers running through her hair, Damon's arms around her, Damon's luke-warm breath against her ear. Four things she could smell: ginger, cloves, sandalwood, and cucumber melon. Three things she could hear: _inhale_ , _exhale_ , and Damon asking if he should keep telling her how to breathe. She nodded feverently. Two things she could taste: nothing. When _was_ the last time she ate? She could almost taste the alcohol off of Damon's breathe. And she could recall the flavor of her cinnamon toothpaste. She reluctantly opened her eyes. One thing she could see: a very worried Damon.

"I'm fine," Addie mumbled, ashamed as she pulled away from him.

"No, you're not," Damon countered, keeping a loose hold on her. "I knew the night you broke up with me you weren't _fine_ and I wanted to do something about it then but I couldn't. I can't keep ignoring the fact that you're in this crippling depression."

"What are you going to do? Tell Elena so she can force me into therapy or have my meds switched?" she scowled up bitterly at him, pushing at his chest.

Damon took the opportunity to meet her eyes as he said sincerely, "I'm going to love you. I'm not going to let you physically or emotionally push me away because you're scared of being hurt or hurting because I see you in an unbearable amount of pain right now."

Addie's lips pressed together until they turned white. Her nostrils flared. She had to grip Damon's shirt to keep from striking him.

"Tell me why that makes you so angry," he pleaded softly.

" _You don't get to fix me! I_ always _break and I can't depend on you to_ always _be there!"_ Addie screamed, curling up on herself again.

Damon's jaw set determinedly as he delicately grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. "Addison Gilbert, you will _never_ have to live your life without me." He cut her off when he saw her rebuttal starting. "I don't know all the minute details of how the future will work out but I don't want to live without you…." With a more gentle smile he added, "You know I always get what I want."

"You'll get tired of dealing with me driving you ten types of crazy. Everyone does," she sid dejectedly.

"Ads, you _know_ I always meant it lovingly when I said that. Besides, I'm over 1,000 types of crazy so you don't even activate a tenth of a percent. I know you have abandonment issues; I do, too. Yours make you push people away; mine make me cling a little too hard. I know you will push me way several times throughout your life because of that fear that I'm going to leave but I won't."

Damon stared at Addie, reflecting. They were so _similar_ but opposite. He hadn't gone over any of the things he had told her but none of it was a lie. He didn't know the technical details of how he would ensure that he would be with her forever, but he wasn't leaving. Maybe he would take the cure. Maybe he wouldn't. It didn't matter, really, as long as he had Addie.

"Damon, I don't want to get back together," Addie said apprehensively.

"Ever or right now?"

"Definitely not right now," she sighed, rubbing at her eyes tiredly. "My heads all screwed up and there's still the sire bond going on."

Damon stopped playing with her red locks to run a hand through his own. In defeat he admitted, "I understand that. It wouldn't be fair to you until I can have better control over myself and understand my feelings better."

"It's also about what's fair to you," she scoffed incredulously. How could he think so low of himself sometimes? "I'm not mentally fit to be anyone's girlfriend right now. I had panic attack the other day because we were out of peas."

"You don't like peas."

"I know! My emotions and anxiety are all over the place. I actually wanted to slap you a few minutes ago, which I don't believe in between us," Addie ranted, trying to prove her point.

"But you didn't slap me. You stuck to your values. Besides, I already said I'm fine not being in a relationship right now. It's not going to stop me from being around you, though. I think being around me would be better for you than isolating. In fact, why don't you stay here with Jeremy and me?" Damon suggested, lighting up at the idea.

Addie flinched at the idea. The only thing truly repulsive about it was that her studio was at home. Though, her studio likely wouldn't offer as much reprieve if Elena was moving back into the house. She paid a lot more attention then Jeremy did and would try to coddle Addie. She had her laptop and keyboard, which could do most of her production. It wasn't that long of a drive back into town when she needed to record.

"I'll think about it," she yawned. "For tonight, I'm gonna go."

Damon chuckled dryly, "No, you're not. It's late and you're exhausted. Just spend the night."

* * *

A sharp kick to the legs and a shrieking ringtone all jostled Addie from a peaceful sleep at once. She groaned and kicked Damon back.

"That's the fifth fucking time in a row it's gone off. Answer it or turn it off," Damon growled, his voice hoarse and deep with sleep.

Addie fumbled for the phone off the nightstand. Her heart leapt to her throat as she saw the caller ID. Immediately she began bumbling around the room for her shoes and jacket as she whispered into the phone for the caller to hold on.

"Are you aware that it's 3:30 in the morning," Addie hissed into the phone once she stood at the edge of the docks. She cursed Damon for always wearing leather jackets as she tried to find heat in his. They were for fashion, not warmth.

"Yes," Klaus snarled from the other end. "Apparently you aren't. Why aren't you home in bed?"

Addie frowned at the slight slur to his speech. Impatiently she demanded, "How do you know I'm not at home?"

"Because your car isn't here. Why can you bang on my door in the middle of the night when you need something but I can't?" he whined.

"I answered my phone. That's the best I can do when I'm not home. What do you n-n-need?" Addie huffed as her teeth started to chatter.

"All my hybrids are dead. I'm not waiting a bloody century for a cure. I need the help of an -"

The phone slipped from Addie's hand at Klaus' final word. She had to have misheard him. Of all the creatures she had searched out, she hadn't truly contemplated the one he had said. It was too horrific to fathom.

* * *

 **A/N: Update! I tried to make it in a week but Addie and Damon weren't cooperating. Thank you guys so much for the follows and (my personal favorite) the comments!**


	10. Chapter 10

From the outside the diner looked straight out of a fifties movie, except that it was on a deserted stretch of road. Addie could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she pulled into a spot. Her sweaty palm slid off the steering wheel with ease as she slid the car into park. The neon "Open" sign flickered above the door. The restaurant was as dark as a cave on the inside, it's walls and ceiling lined with redwood panels. The darkness suited Addie's mood.

The smell of burnt coffee and greasy food mingled with the copper, metallic tang of something eerily familiar.

"I thought you were past th whole vomiting t the sight of blood thing." The voice was clipped, British, and impatient. Klaus' back was to Addie as an older woman poured a mug of coffee for him at th the counter. He patted the barstool next to him and barked, "Another for my friend."

Addie didn't think it was the best time to point out that they weren't exactly friends. Though his back was to her there was something menacing about the way he sat. A chill ran down her spine and she pulled the jacket sleeves over her hands nervously.

The diner was deserted except for Klaus, who sat at the middle of the bar, a man seated next to him, and the waitress. Addie stopped halfway across the restaurant as she realized there was something odd about the way the man slumped over the counter

"Is he dead?" Addie demanded, hoping her voice sounded more confident than she felt.

The man's dark coat had a slit in the center of his upper back. There was darker coloring around the slit that trailed down his back and ended in a pool of crimson blood beneath his stool.

Klaus ground his teeth in a scowl and growled, "He made me angry and he paid for it. Your friends have made me angry and they will pay for that. Don't make me angry, Addison. Sit."

The stool squeaked as Addie sat down, holding her breath. She noted Klaus held an ornate, bloody broadsword between his legs. He was dressed to the nines but the cuff of his right sleeve seemed to be damp. The tuxedo was also splattered with blood. Tension rolled off of him in waves.

Addie's stomach turned with anxiety and disgust at being so close to a dead, bloody body. And a volatile Klaus. Placatingly she gently said, " I've been staying out of all this supernatural bullshit. I honestly have no idea what my friends have done.

Klaus' stool swiveled as he faced her. Droplets of spit landed on her face as he furiously roared, " _Reader's Digest_ version: they tried to dumb me into Rebekah's body to use the daggers on me so all my hybrids could flee. What have I done to deserve that?"

Addie bit her tongue to keep from responding. There were multiple answers. The question had to be hypothetical.

"I have been working with you guys to cure Elena. I got the Hunter's Sword." There was a loud _swoosh_ through the air as Klaus brandished the aforementioned object a hair's width from Addie's nose. She held her breath, repulsed by the scent of fresh blood and afraid of being accidentally cut. "I did my part and Stefan planned to betray me," Klaus snarled as the sword dropped to his side.

Addie's hand trembled as she took a sip of the black coffee Klaus demanded for her. It was repulsive but leaning over the counter gave her a reason to not look at him. A long sip also gave her a second to think. She had much more experience dealing with a pissed off Damon than a pissed off Klaus. Also, she wasn't exactly concerned with why Klaus felt so angered. She was more curious as to what he wanted with her and what he knew about her.

It made sense that Stefan would want to keep Klaus down if they could use Professor Shane rather than Klaus' to find the Cure. Klaus only wanted to cure Elena to make a bigger, no - a new hybrid army.

"You said all your hybrids were dead," Addie recalled timidly, not wanting to further antagonize him.

"Tyler Lockwood worked against me to unsire them all," he snarled, his face turning red. "I didn't manage to slaughter Tyler but I killed the rest. I wanted to rip Tyler's throat out but he is my successful transition so I settled for drowning his mother," Klaus confided with an odd detachment. It was the same thing Addie tried to do when things got too emotional.

"You killed them because they betrayed you," Addie muttered as the pieces began to fit together. She managed to keep from saying that he killed them because they left him alone, feeding his fear of abandonment. His side of the sire bond to them was based on gratitude and feelings of fellowship. He had been bound to them and had a strong emotional reaction to learning they broke their end of the bond without permission. It was like how he hated Tyler and allowed Jeremy to kill Chris all because they had severed their bonds. Addie briefly wondered if Elena would snap on Damon, if they broke his side of the bond, before refocusing on the immediate problem.

Addie took another long, bitter sip of coffee as she forced herself to remain civil and tactful with the man who had just murdered at least fourteen people.

"On the phone you said you're not waiting anymore for the Cure."

"No," he bit back shortly. Snidely he continued, "I don't trust that Stefan and Damon are capable of finding the Cure nor do I believe that will hand over Elena's blood once she is human again. As Elena does not have any children, that eliminates the possibility of another doppelganger. Besides, I refuse to wait that long. I'm not even convinced Jeremy could survive long enough to complete his mark."

Admittedly, it was a lot of valid concerns on his part. Addie approached the issue the same way she did every academic test - with the last problem first.

"Damon is training Jeremy to fight and hunt. He's an excellent teacher, tough but excellent. He'll help Jeremy complete his mark," she said certainly.

"We don't know how many vampire kills it takes to complete a mark," glowered Klaus, though he sounded slightly more rational.

Addie didn't have a comeback for that so she moved on. "Turning Elena human would allow her to have children, which means future dopplegangers. I know for a fact that she wants to have children. She's been trying to mother me since the day I was born. In fact, I'm believing so hard in the fact that she will have children that I'm arranging my life around it," emphasized Addie, getting slightly sidetracked by her own thoughts on the future.

"Don't Damon and you have some ridiculous 15 year contract just so you can have children?" Klaus glowered into his coffee mug.

Addie caught him carefully watching her out of the corner of his eye. It looked like he was almost pouting but that didn't make any sense. It had to be a scowl of disgust.

"I'm sixteen. My moods are as predictable as the weather. The contract leaves me with the ability to have children if I choose to do so. Right now, as I can't be convinced that fetuses are literally nothing but parasites, I plan on borrowing Elena's children and being the fun aunt when I have the whim to interact with little humans," Addie explained mechanically. It was almost as if she had memorized the speech. Her contract with Damon wasn't anyone's business but everyone seemed to know and wanted an explanation. She hated the gossip of small towns.

Shaking her head, Addie cleared her mind of her own issues. She wasn't even with Damon in that way anymore. It was a defunct contract. Her brain could only process so much at once. The important thing was keeping the mass murder calm long enough to explain what he knew. Escaping unscathed would be an added bonus. For that, Addie knew she was going to have to schmooze him.

"Klaus," she said softly, placing her hand over his comfortingly, "I understand the sire bond that forms with your hybrids." She licked her lips as she thought of a way to tip-toe around his fear of abandonment that initiated the bond on his part. "Even when my parents were alive, I was always the black sheep of the family. I always felt my parents played favorites. But when they died, I'd never felt more alone. My brother turned to drugs and Elena, well, she was responsible for their deaths. My family turned their back on me when I needed them the most. I thought I found someone I could trust, someone who would love me and put me first for a change when I fell in love with Damon. His sire bond with Elena proves I was wrong."

From the way he had fully turned towards her and was meeting her gaze with softened eyes, Addie knew she had connected with Klaus. It scared her that she didn't even have to lie to do it. Everything she had told him had been feelings she had at one point or another. When she felt emotionally stable she could think rationally and realize that it was all distorted thoughts. On her worst days, her mind was her own worst enemy.

"If anyone is going to understand the importance of why you want a _loyal_ hybrid army at your disposal, it's me," she said, lying slightly. Klaus didn't want an army. He wanted a family that wouldn't hurt him to the point that he believed daggering them was the solution. He wanted a family he could be in complete control over so he wouldn't get hurt. Addie gave him a brief second of silence to process her words.

"You're bargaining," Klaus murmured, staring at her mouth.

"Yes," she admitted, slightly thrown off that he hadn't said more. "If you are not threatening or killing the people I love and care about, I will ensure that you have enough of Elena's blood to keep a _loyal_ following of hybrids. That also means you will have to keep your hybrids in line. You don't have to trust that Stefan and Damon will give you Elena's blood. You just have to trust me." Addie move her hand to rest on a non-bloodstained portion of his forearm and whispered, "I know I'm breaking the unspoken rule by saying this, but, we _do_ trust each other to follow through on our word, Klaus."

"You trust me?" His voice still had a detached element as his brows furrowed and eyes narrowed as he searched for deception.

She exhaled slowly as she chose her words carefully, "I trust you to follow through on what you say you are going to do. You don't make threats; you make promises. I know you are extremely dangerous and I can never fully trust you because I can never tell when you're lying. Whatever I am gives me the ability to detect deception from you. It is constantly there. I know it is there because you are a threat to me and intend to use me. I also know that it will always be there because you will always have your own agenda and own Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, and so on if things don't go your way. I can respect that. I can respect that you are a fighter. I can respect that sometimes the only way to get things done or to protect yourself is to keep things to yourself."

Klaus stared at Addie's hand in fascination. He could feel her warmth through his suit coat. He didn't want to hurt Addie. He wanted to protect her. "I am a threat to you because I have to _make promises,_ as you put it, against those you love in order to get you to do what I want. I don't want to _use_ you; I believe it would be a more mutualistic situation in which we both benefit. In a worse case scenario, it would be commensalistic and you would not be harmed. I would prefer you benefit, though."

"Stefan and Damon have enlisted the help of a professor who knows where the cure is," Addie eventually decided to say. She'd circular back around to whatever Klaus was alluding to but she couldn't process that just yet. "They just need to complete Jeremy's mark so Bonnie can work the spell to unseal the Cure. They have accomplished far more impossible things. They will not stop until Elena is human again."

Klaus shook off her touch as he growled, "I don't want to wait. I want-"

"You want control over the situation," Addie snapped, growing tired of playing nice. She was drained from her own long night with Damon. She was emotionally exhausted and just wanted to know what the hell Klaus knew about her and wanted. Considering he had just slaughtered people, she also wasn't particularly inclined to be cooperative; it was just the smart thing to do. But she was tired and didn't care about being smart. Her hand fisted through her hair in annoyance as she huffed, "Can you just get to the point of why you asked me here?"

"I figured you feel more comfortable meeting on neutral territory."

Her lips pursed as she counted to five. "You know that's not what I mean. I hardly consider a place where you murdered a man for sitting in the wrong seat and are undoubtedly planning to kill the compelled waitress to be neutral territory."

"I'll compel the waitress to forget everything if that makes you feel better."

Her hard stare told him that it didn't change anything. Obviously she wanted the waitress to go unharmed; he knew that.

"What do you know of an echidna?" he asked, taking on an academic tone.

Addie visibly flinched. There was that word he had used on the phone again. She had a rudimentary knowledge from her research into mythological creatures but hadn't seriously considered it and the sources weren't the most reputable.

"I always thought Echidna was a singular creature. Clearly you know more so why don't you tell me all you know," she retorted wearily.

"' _And in a hollow cave Mother Earth bore another monster, irresistible and unmanageable, in no way like either mortal men or the undying gods. There is none like the fierce goddess Echidna, who is half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks, and half again a huge snake, great and awful, with speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the holy earth. And there she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock far from the deathless gods and mortal men. There, then, did the gods appoint her a glorious house to dwell in: and she keeps guard of something most terrible in the Underworld. Grim Echidna, a maiden immortal and ageless all days,'"_ recited Klaus.

"Hesiod's _Theogony_ ," Addie muttered, recalling how the rest of the poem went on to explain Echidna had bore multiple monstrous children. Her most famous were the chimera, sphinx, a three-headed dog, the gorgon, Echidna had been known as as the "Mother of All Monsters"and her children figured prominently in the tales of nearly every great hero of Greek mythology.

Addie rubbed at her forehead as she felt a headache coming on. Her stomach was queasy. "I know the legends. I've read the stories." When Klaus didn't respond she snipped, "Tell me the facts!"

"The facts are legends and stories. I told you I was in the process of running experiments. I feel I have enough solid evidence that I don't want to trust in two bumbling idiots who have repeatedly tried to killed me for -"

"Shut the fuck up," Addie snapped, holding her hands up in a stopping gesture. Her eye had started to twitch with anger. She counted backwards from 100, reminding herself to breathe every ten numbers. She would _not_ have a panic attack in front of Klaus. Nor would she try to kill him without knowing all the facts.

"I cannot hear anything about your plans or what you want. I need to hear what you _know_ ," she reasoned. "Echidna is a singular creature from Greek mythology, You've said what I am has to do with being the blood sister of a Hunter."

Klaus ground his teeth again in frustration. He wanted Addie to work with him; he did not want to force her into anything. However, he was not in a tolerant and patient mood. She liked the who, what, when, where, why, and how of everything and he couldn't tolerate playing twenty questions.

With a grimace he stipulated, "If you promise not to interrupt me or ask any nonsense questions, I will tell you what I know that you need to know."

"But you won't tell me everything you know," she snorted.

"That was a nonsense question," he growled.

Letting out a puff of air, Addie retorted, "It was an observation. You assumed it was a question, which is not my fault."

"Can you just not do your normal interrupting-Addison routine? I'd prefer not to hurt."

"Fine," she agreed compliantly. She doubted she could process more than what she actually needed to know, anyways.

"It all goes back to the pesky witches," Klaus sighed, a mix of awe and annoyance in his voice. "In 1110 AD., a group of vampire hunters, The Brotherhood of the Five, was created by an unnamed dying witch who was descended from was the witch who created immortality, along with Silas. They have a twisted love triangle that isn't really important. The Brotherhood were magically blessed with superhuman strength, agility, and combat skills, and the spell that created them also gave them tattoos that covered their arms and chest. These tattoos were meant to create a map that would lead them to an ultimate weapon that no vampire could fight against; the cure for immortality. There can be many potential Hunters but there are only five active ones at any given time."

Addie bit her tongue and banged her head on the countertop repeatedly. She knew all of this. She wanted to scream that none of it was relevant to her.

Klaus rolled his eyes at Addie's childish antics but rushed out, "The point is that the Hunters are driven to rid the world of what they consider monsters. Monsters, vampires, are an abomination of nature. Witches are proponents of nature, which is why they wanted to destroy vampires. But vampires were made by witches and witches are all about keeping things in balance. If you have a powerful force to destroy, you must have a powerful force to create." He shrugged at her dubious expression and admitted, "Here is where the facts are less clear and it is more on my own research on the Echidnas, Mothers of all Monsters.

"The descendant of Qetsiyah had a twin sister who practiced Expression, a darker form of magic,and felt the need to restore balance. Her accounts refer to them as Echidnas, Mothers of all Monsters, and so have I. She sought out the full blood sisters of the original Five and blessed them with intellect, exceptionally long life spans with slow aging, fertility, blood that is poisonous to vampires yet smells extremely appealing, the ability to detect deception from vampires. As there had to be a limit on the number of Hunter's, there had to be a limit on the number of Echidnas. The Echidnas had to be activated by a vampire, just like Hunters."

Addie's hand unconsciously moved to her throat as she recalled all the times Damon had drained her blood and restored her health with his own so that she could become resistant to compulsion on Katherine's orders. A surprising side effect had been that he'd gained the ability to safely drink her blood. Klaus had furiously shoved his fist around her heart and brought her to the brink of death, twice, after which he was able to drink her blood. Addie hadn't yet told Klaus she could resist compulsion when he had burt her like that.

"Damon activated me when he trained me to resist compulsion," she murmured in comprehension.

"Yes, though he did it in a painfully slow process," Klaus mused, not minding the interruption. "I only had to feed you my blood once because I had brought you so close to death, and it was still in your system to heal you when I took you there again. To Damon's credit, he was working with the best information Katherine had at the time.

"Your ancestor, Madison Gilbert, was the first Echidna I encountered when Katherine told me of what she had done regarding the compulsion. Madison Gilbert had the child of werewolf George Lockwood. I've already told you the child wasn't normal and died after a couple of months."

Addie rested her head in her hands, covering her face as she waited for Klaus to rip the bandage off. It was starting to make sense as to where this was all going. Her eyes stung with unshed tears.

"George never told Madison of his curse. Madison was left alone with the baby when he would have horrible, collicky fits and transform into a baby wolf. Per her diary, Madison had thought she'd gone mad with lack of sleep the first time it happened. Makes senses, being a new mother, and all," Klaus explained calmly, reminiscing on his ecstasy at finding the woman's old diary.

"When it happened a month later, again, Madison chalked it up to an exhausted hallucination. The third time it happened, the child clawed her and she couldn't deny the scratch marks. Afraid that she had given birth to a Demon, she disposed of the infant."

"She killed it?" Addie balked in horror.

Klaus nodded, "Presumably. Her diary alludes to that. She hung herself a few days later. A tragedy." There was a fanatical twinge to his voice as he lightly grasped her wrist and whispered intently, "Don't you get what power she had? She gave birth to a true werewolf. No curse had to be activated. The child was a werewolf from the womb. That's never been heard of."

"A true monster," Addie spat back. The poor child would be cursed for life. The child may have never killed someone and the werewolf curse may never have occurred if Katherine hadn't made Madison an Echidna, Mother of All Monsters.

She pinched the bridge of her nose as she understood. "Connor Jordan had sisters, didn't he? Those are the experiments I can't stop? The people I can't protect? You turned them into Echidnas?" she snarled accusingly.

"I needed to ensure that a vampire and a hybrid could successfully be birthed," he stated matter of factly.

"Both of those defy logic. A fetus grows. A vampire is dead and therefore doesn't age," Addie shot back, trying to distance herself from the problem.

The victorious grin that overtook Klaus' entire face told her logic had been defied.

"You haven't held them captive long enough to know for certain," she scowled, slapping her hand on the table. Klaus couldn't possibly think she would just breed him a little hybrid army.

"Long enough to know something is growing," he beamed proudly.

"Oh, yeah, _something!_ " Addie exclaimed in exasperation, standing up from her chair and beginning to pace. Taking on a British accent and walking primly she did an impression of him. "Addison, I want you to grow some unknown monster parasite for me because I don't have the damn patience to wait for the Cure. I want you to be 16 and pregnant because that MTV show makes it look _so_ cool. I want you to have kids that you don't even want. And really, I'm not asking for your permission."

Klaus hid a snort of laughter behind his hand. It wasn't that inaccurate. "You're fear is showing."

"Of course I'm afraid! You tell me I can give birth to monsters and you want to use me! I'm terrified. I'm furious. I'm exhausted. Hell, I still haven't even processed what the hell is going on! Like, half of my brain is still stuck on the fact that you slaughtered all your hybrids, the mayor, _and_ this man," she jabbed a finger at the slouched body next to Klaus.

Addie's fingers fisted through her hair as she muttered to herself, "I don't want to fucking deal with this. I _can't_ deal with this. This is beyond my tolerance level for weird." She forced herself to take a deep breath and try to stall, "What about the fact that you said you wanted to wait until the perfect time to experiment on me? It sounds like you still don't know what Connor's sisters are going to pop out. This plan isn't fully developed."

"It won't be any different. They are experiments. You are perfection. I'd rather reach perfection sooner rather than later," Klaus said, his voice going deeper.

"No, I will not work with you on some half baked plan." Addie declared firmly. She'd never agree to birth any monsters for Klaus but she wasn't stupid enough to say that. To buy herself time to think she said, "We can discuss it after Connor's sisters have the babies. By then we might even have the Cure."

Klaus slowly stroked the hilt of the Hunter's sword as he watched her critically. It was obvious that she couldn't be reasoned with, at the moment. Standing up, he invaded her personal space to whisper in her ear, "The Cure isn't my end goal, Addison. Take a few days to think on it. You will see that this is what we both want."

Addie stumbled backwards in shock as Klaus's cool, dry lips landed on hers but his arm was around her waist, holding her in place. Addie shoved her hands on his bloody tuxedo jacket and pushed herself away from him.

"I need to leave," she gasped, fighting back a gag before racing outside of the diner. Into a bush she heaved up every bit of bile and coffee her stomach had. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she stumbled to her Jeep on wobbly legs.

Under the windshield wiper was a note. Addie wanted to vomit again as she read the familiar handwriting:

 _At least I never kissed Elena._

* * *

 ** _A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites. Sorry this chapter is so short but I wanted to make sure I got it out since I left y'all on such cliffhanger._**


	11. Chapter 11

Addie knew Damon had witnessed the kiss with Klaus from the note he had left on her windshield. How much had he seen? Was it possible for him to move fast enough to watch her puush Klaus away, storm off, and promptly puke and still have time to write the note? She'd tried to call him when she got into the car but her call was directed to voicemail on the second ring. After that, all calls rang out until his voicemail picked up. He was ignoring her.

Fine. If he wanted to be petty, she'd just be the bigger person, _again_. With all the new information Klaus had unloaded on her, Addie had more than enough to deal with. Not ready for a war with Damon, she drove back to Mystic Falls to pack a bag to stay out at the lakehouse for a couple of days.

Admittedly, she did stop at the 24-hour drugstore in town to pick up a new toothbrush and antiseptic mouthwash, for good measure. She was able to swish with the mouthwash before getting home but it wouldn't be until she had a shower and properly brushed her teeth that she actually felt cleansed of Klaus.

At home, she bumped into Jeremy and informed him that she would be his sparring partner. Jeremy gave her an overly enthusiastic high-five and said he'd kid her ass just like when they were kids. Addie took advantage of his distraction and outstretched arm to punch him in the side of the ribs. Her brother had grimaced in pain and glowered at her but Addie simply retorted that vampire's didn't fight fair and Damon wouldn't allow her to go easy on Jeremy. The short interaction with her brother was the first halfway decent part of her day.

Damon hadn't mentioned when he would come back into town to pack a bag for himself, so Addie sent him a text offering to do so. She imagined he'd probably gone home, rather than back to the cabin after last night and had packed himself, if he even still planned on training Jeremy. Her text was more of an attempt to coax him out of ignoring her attempts at calling him every half hour.

Curiosity got the best of her and Addie decided to drive by the boarding house before heading back to the lake house. As Damon's car was not at his house, Addie sent him another text saying she was _going_ to pack him a bag. He could correct her if she didn't need to.

Awkwardly, Addie knocked on the heavy, wooden door.

"Why are you knocking?" Stefan wondered as he swung the door open effortlessly, moving aside so that Addie could enter. "You have a key. Why not just enter like you normally do?"

"It was different when I was dating Damon and basically lived here, which I now realize we never really asked you if that was ok. And then Elena moved in here because Jeremy was trying to kill her and she's sired to Damon. But she's moving back home. But she wasn't at home just now. And you moved out because Elena moved in,. So, I guess, why are you answering when I'm knocking?" Addie bumbled out uncomfortably.

Stefan had been around Addie long enough to know that she had a tendency to ramble when she was stressed. From the furious phone call he'd gotten from Damon halfway through the night, he could suspect the cause of her stress. As he closed the door he explained, "Elena and Bonnie picked up her stuff last night and I moved back in. Addie, the fact that Elena is sired to Damon doesn't supercede the fact that you lived here first, which I vaguely recall essentially giving my permission for when I agreed to deed the house to you."

A small smile ghosted on Addie's lips as she recalled what seemed so long ago.

 _**Flashback**_

 _Addie skimmed over the keywords: house, title, gift deed, change of ownership. She scoffed and passed the papers and pen to her sister. "You've lost your mind."_

"What is this?" Elena asked, looking between the brothers.

"It's the deed to our house. It's in Zach's name. As soon as you guys sign it, it'll be in your name," Stefan explained.

"Technically, we need to set up an appointment with a lawyer to sign before ownership officially transfers," interjected Damon.

Elena stared at them blankly, "You're giving me your house?"

"I did say Damon lost his mind. Though I hadn't realized he had roped Stefan into his plan," Addie muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

 _Damon sneered at her, "I haven't lost anything. It's the smart thing to do. Isobel had the right idea with the safe house, except we don't plan on having Klaus invited in. You guys will just stay here until it's all over. This way, you two can control who gets invited and who doesn't. Although I'll be super pissed if you lock me out."_

"That's the only reason I would sign. I'm not staying here until everything is over. It's just… no. You need one signer; Elena can do it. I'm not taking part in this," Addie firmly stated.

Damon tried to reason with her quietly, sitting by her as Stefan and Elena discussed the deed, "You have your own drawer and like a fifth of my closet space at this point. Plus you've spent every night for the past week here. It really wouldn't be any different. And what happens when you and Elena do agree on whether or not to invite in a vampire? I might be a little biased but you tend to seem to judge people more rationally than emotionally. It's much easier to make someone believe you're good than it is to make them think you're useful." He could read the distressed and resolute look in her eyes. "Ads, I already know which room would be a good fit for you if you want your own room. Look, I love having you around but the idea of actually living together is definitely a bridge neither of us is ready to cross. I just can't think of a better way to protect you. It's just a temporary thing."

"Damon, even for you this is extreme."

"A little," he conceded, "but I'm also extremely worried about you. This way I can leave you alone without freaking out about your safety."

"You're worrying too much about the wrong person! You need to focus on Elena. Have you come up with a better way than Elijah's potion to make sure she survives Klaus' little ritual?" hissed Addie, becoming slightly annoyed.

He ran his hand over his face tiredly, "Now that Bonnie's all juiced up, that's what I'll be focusing on again. In all those grimoires there has to be something that she can do. I haven't talked about it with her yet but it's Bonnie, she'll do it for Elena…. Please, for my peace of mind, just sign the deed. We'll undo it once everything is safe again." She groaned reluctantly. Damon kissed her cheek with a smile. "I'm going to get our bags for tonight while you sign the papers and then you'll meet me at the car and we are going to put this whole crazy mess behind us for tonight."

 _**End Flashback**_

"Damon said we'd undo all of that once everything was safe again," Addie sighed wistfully.

"He's worried about you because he loves you." Stefan shrugged, as if to excuse his brother. Which was an understatement. He'd threatened to lock Stefan in the cellar and let him dessicate all because Stefan hadn't managed to dessicate Klaus last night. It hadn't even been his plan! Body jumping Klaus had all been some lie made up by Hayley, a werewolf friend of Tyler's.

"I don't doubt that," Addie huffed in annoyance. Scowling, she continued, "Always worrying. Always angry. Always happy. Always sad. Always yes. Always no. Always hot. Always cold. Doesn't it seem like Damon and I are always in extremes?"

"Always," Stefan nodded, earning a reluctant grimace. "You are two very passionate and stubborn people. On extremely rare occasions, you can bring out the worst in each other," he said with a condescending look before adding brightly, "but the majority of the time, you guys bring out the best in each other."

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and shame. She knew what Stefan was referring to. "I'm sorry for checking you out that night to make Damon jealous," she mumbled, speaking directly to her pair of green Converse.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to. I know you have absolutely no interest in me, which I'm good with."

"You deserve an apologize because it added unneeded tension between you and Damon since he's too damn insecure to realize the same thing."

"Ah," Stefan chuckled. "Damon's only insecure when it comes to people he cares about, like you."

"And Katherine and Elena. The Golden Trio of Damon Salvatore's heart. His first love, his sired love, and his -"

"And his true love," Stefan interjected. "Elena doesn't know Damon's feelings are also caught up in this sire bond thing but I do. He told me last night that he knows his love for you is the only thing that can break whatever he's feeling for Elena."

That hadn't been how Addie was going to referred to herself but that wasn't what had grabbed her attention. "You talked to Damon last night? When?"

"Middle of the night. We didn't really talk. He more or less just screamed at me because Klaus was alive and how that makes Klaus a threat to you and blah, blah, blah," Stefan groaned, waving his hand dismissively. "You know, the typical things you wake your brother up for at 4 in the morning. I'm assuming you know how he figured out so quickly that Klaus survived?"

"Bastard is ignoring me," Addie mumbled under her breath, stomping in a tizzy. Addie drew her bottom lip between her teeth. She wasn't going to speak of what Klaus told her to Stefan before Damon but Stefan deserved to know something.

"Stefan, you need to be careful," she said seriously, meeting his vibrant eyes. "I met with Klaus last night and he's _really_ pissed off. He's killed all of his hybrids except Tyler. He decided to kill Carol Lockwood to punish Tyler… which I suppose leaves the city without a mayor. Whatever you and Damon did," Addie shook her head, at a loss for word. "He feels betrayed."

Stefan rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Yesterday, I told Caroline I thought I'd be happier watching Klaus get led away to his slaughter, but for some reason I couldn't help but feel kind of guilty."

"Because you were trying to kill him while he isn't trying to actually hurt any of us? Because he's actually been holding up his end in getting the Cure for Elena? Because, from what I understand, it was a trap, meaning you were attacking someone who was defenseless?" Addie demanded, not realizing she had sort of felt a little resentment at whoever had been planning on killing Klaus.

"Kind of the last one," Stefan nodded. "I kept reminding myself of all the horrible things he's done to justify his guilt but we've all done horrible things. I think the difference is just we have family and friends we can trust to protect us. That's why it's ironic that you say he feels betrayed," he finished morosely.

"You know, these morality things are much easier when the world is always black or always white," Addie sighed, giving him an understanding and sympathetic smile.

"Damon does that. You definitely don't. You make him see shades of grey. Another example of you guys bringing out the best in each other."

Addie frowned slightly as she pointed, "I wasn't trying to bring it back to Damon and me. I was trying emphasize how much I enjoy having a friend who also sees shades of grey."

Stefan nodded in realization and grinned at her. "I enjoy it to. Though, I couldn't read your mind like Damon could have. However, I'm starting to sense that you're mad at him."

"I'm not mad," Addie exhaled loudly, telling herself it wasn't a lie. "I'm frustrated with him for ignoring me all night. Nevertheless, I am going to pack him clothes so he doesn't have to drive into town right away."

"Did he ask you to?" Stefan wondered innoccently.

Addie double checked her phone. It was past her half hour to try calling Damon. There was no missed calls or texts. She shoved the cell back in her pocket and shrugged. "He's had over an hour and a half to tell me not to."

"So he's passive-aggressively asking you to by a lack of action?"

"You're suggesting that he's playing mind games on me while I'm playing mind games on him because he's playing mind games on me?" she demanded sharply.

Stefan's face scrunched up in confusion. Slowly he said, "I think so."

"That bastard!" Addie exclaimed as she stormed up the stairs.

* * *

When Addie arrived at the lake house, Damon had Jeremy doing a series of body-weight workouts. Feeling more inclined towards a nap than grueling exercise, Addie made her way inside. In the master bedroom she dropped off the duffel bag she had packed for Damon and placed the blood bags in the fridge. The guest bedroom that Addie usually claimed had already been made up with fresh linens. She wondered if it had been Jeremy or Damon who'd done that. The room was smaller than hers at home but still held a full size bed, a chaise lounge chair, nightstand, and an wardrobe with a television.

After unpacking her bags, Addie settled into the lounge chair with her mixing headphones on and her portable keyboard on her lap. Next to her was a pen and composition book for any lyrics she thought of.

Addie wasn't aware of how much time passed as she worked on her music. Eventually, Jeremy stuck his head in the door.

"What?" Addie asked, pulling one earphone off.

"I was just letting you know pizza is here. I'd ask if you want to play a round of Call of Duty like we used to but -"

"But you smell like ass!" Addie exclaimed, pinching her nose. "Oh my god! You're making my room smell like a boys locker room."

"Exactly! I have to shower," Jeremy laughed, shutting the door behind him.

Addie's fingers hovered over the keyboard as she wondered if that meant Jeremy and Damon were done training for the day. Would that mean Damon would finally approach her?

She decided that it would. He was blowing everything out of proportion because he wanted to act childish. When he was ready to come to her and behave like a civilized adult, they could have a real conversation.

***/***

Damon scowled down at Addie's sleeping form. She'd sunk so low in the lounge chair that she was lying on her back. Her keyboard wobbled precariously on her upper stomach as she breathed shallowly. One hand had fallen to the floor next to a notebook. She had to start taking better care of herself. He had felt it when he'd held her the previous night that she had already started losing weight. She was also probably staying awake until the point of collapsing. Damon was willing to bet Addie had been perfectly aware that she'd needed to sleep but had decided to work on her music instead but eventually lost out to her body's basic need to survive.

He set the cold pizza and protein shake on the tiny nightstand. Carefully, he picked up the keyboard and moved to slide it under her bed.

"Ow!" Addie cried out in pain, clasping at her ears as she was jolted from a deep sleep.

"Shit," cursed Damon, realizing too late that the headphones were plugged into the keyboard.

"What the hell are you doing?" Addie demanded, squinting at him through the dim light of the lamp.

"I was trying to make you more comfortable," he huffed defensively. Seeing her open her mouth he continued, "Obviously I didn't know the headphones were connected. I was trying to help."

Addiie scowled, rubbing her stinging ears. She didn't want to chastise him when she knew his heart was in a good place. Spying the food on the nightstand she retorted, "Were you trying to make me more comfortable or were you trying to feed me?"

"Have you eaten anything today?" Damon challenged back just as fiercely.

"That doesn't answer my question," she sniffed.

"I didn't _intentionally_ wake you up. You didn't answer my question."

"I haven't been hungry. Have _you_ eaten anything today?"

"Yes," he answered sharply. "I wasn't hungry but I still drank one of the blood bags that you brought me - thank you - right before coming in here. And do you know why I did it? Because I realize it's the fucking darkness in my head that says I'm not hungry. Because I know that my body is actually hungry. Because I know that if I want to feel better, I have to keep my body healthy. Ads, you know these things, too," Damon sighed wearily, sinking down onto the edge of the bed.

He was right; she knew all of that. He wanted to know what her parents and Jenna and Elena and therapists and doctors all wanted to know.

"You want to know why I won't just do those things to keep my body healthy if I know it will make me better," she mumbled, staring down at her hands.

Damon shook his head. "No. I get why; it's too much work." Addie lifted her head up slightly, her eyes curious. He gave a half shrug as a way of answer and explained, "Ads, you know I've had dark times. I haven't burdened you with all the sordid details and I don't want to but I've hit rock bottom. I haven't wanted to fight. You still want to fight. You're exhausted and you need a time out but you still want to fight. Unfortunately, in life there is no such thing as a time out so you're picking and choosing your battles. You battle monotonous things like hygiene, getting dressed, driving, things that don't seem like actual challenges. You battle huge things like a sire bond, love, Klaus, panic attacks, depression, and so much more. Addie, I get why you don't have the damn energy to put yourself in this damn bed or to care about eating food."

Anxiously she whispered, "You're not mad?"

Damon's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew he was walking a fine line. His wording had to be right or she would sense deception. "I'm not mad at you because the world has taken its toll on you. I'm not mad at you because you need help. I'm mad at the world for picking on you. I'm mad over other things. But, Ads, I could never be mad at you for suffering so deeply."

Her eyebrows knitted together as she uttered defiantly, "I don't need help."

Damon dragged a hand over his face, a light layer of stubble scrapping at his palm. He hadn't planned to confront her this way. Reluctantly he sighed, "Yes, Addie, you do. Last time you were this depressed I compelled you to take back control of your life. I don't even actually know if you were this depressed or worse but you told me to kill you. We are not reaching that point again. You can either stay here and accept help from me and we can fight this together or I'll tell Elena that I think you need professional help, which I don't think will be as beneficial."

"And Elena's your little lap dog so she'll do whatever you say," Addie glowered at him.

"Addie, I like having power and control but I don't like having to manipulate you and using an already strained relationship with your sister against you. I just feel like you spirit and passion is dying. I want to give it a chance to come back to life," reasoned Damon.

"You want me here to help break your end of the sire bond," Addie reminded him.

Damon snorted humorlessly, "Addie, if I thought sending you to professionals was in your best interests, I would have become Elena's love slave when you first broke up with me. I don't care if I'm bound to Elena as long as you're ok."

Addie tensed as she waited for the fog, the haze, the darkness, for something to tell her Damon was lying but it never came. Her body went numb as she realized he would be ok with losing himself as long as it meant she was alright; that was the ultimate sacrifice from a man who claimed to be selfish.

"What are you asking of me? I don't want you to keep threatening to tell Elena or to ask of things I know I can't do."

"I want two hours a night to talk to you alone, just like we're doing. For an hour we'll focus on you and for an hour we'll focus on whatever can help break my bond. If the times ebb or flow, that's fine but you must give me at least two hours a night," Damon said, mentally marking his first demand off.

"What if you've pissed me off and I don't want to talk to you?" she bit back.

He'd considered that. "Then we have to sit in awkward silence for two hours with no distractions."

"Fine. I can give you two hours a day," Addie decided. Crossing her arms, she inquired, "What else?"

"You have to eat. I will cook. I will clean up. I will freaking spoon feed you. You just have to do the actual eating, Ads," he begged.

Her stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought of food. Addie shook her head slowly. "The idea makes me sick. My teeth hurt. My jaw hurts. Nothing about my body wants to eat."

Damon had been expecting that. He'd noticed her actually grinding her teeth, something she'd never used to do. He held out the premade protein shake he'd brought in with him. At the disgusted look on her face he explained, "It's a compromise. You get all of your essential nutrients and you don't have to chew."

"I don't like when you try to hide protein powder in pancakes. You actually think I'm going to like a protein shake?"

"Yes. I swear, if you drink it cold it taste just like chocolate milk. Can you please not argue with me on this? I'm not budging on the eating thing," Damon said as he shook the small container.

Addie knew Damon wasn't lying. He'd always had an issue with how she ate like a picky child. He probably thought she was developing an eating disorder, which she wasn't. Scowling, she held her hand out for the shake. Damon uncapped it and handed it to her. It didn't taste like chocolate milk but she didn't gag. Pinching her nose she downed the entire bottle. The revolting, chalky taste was worth the genuine smile that lit up Damon's face.

"One a day."

"Three."

"Two."

"Three."

"Two and you can offer a third without me getting pissed off."

"Fine," Damon chuckled. "I would like for you to join me in training Jeremy but I understand if you don't."

Addie groaned loudly, "You and Alaric already put me through gruesome ten hour days."

"I know. There's nothing wrong with making sure your skills are still intact."

"I'll see how I'm feeling," she evaded. No way was she committing to getting up at the crack of dawn or doing any insane drills.

"Fair enough. Those are my only terms."

"Deal," Addie said, sticking out her hand.

Damon resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Deal," he agreed and shook her hand.

Addie waited for Damon to say something else. When he didn't, she began to stare at him pointedly.

"I'm still owed another hour and fifteen minutes," he grinned, crossing his arms.

"Oh. Well, in that case, you pissed me off," Addie spat back, throwing herself back into a lying position.

"And you have nothing to say?"

"You didn't have anything to say this morning," she replied cliply.

"Yeah," Damon scoffed, hitting himself in the head. "I was processing that my girlfriend snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to have a secret rendezvous with a mass murdering freak and then kissed him!"

"One," Addie held up her finger, "I'm not your girlfriend." She stuck up another. "Two: you were crabby because of the call. I didn't want to wake you to tell you I was leaving." She put a third finger. "Three: _he_ kissed me, after which, I vomited."

Damon's fist clenched the comforter as his face turned red. While her first point was technically correct, he wanted to scream that he didn't fucking care. Addie belonged to him and no one else. They were only broken up because she was depressed. She was meant to be with him. No Original Hybrid Bastard was allowed to drool all over her just because they were not technically together.

"Damon," Addie whispered when he didn't say anything for several minutes.

"I saw the kiss. Klaus moved too quickly into your space. You tried to step away but he held you tighter. You had to push him away. You immediately left and vomited." His eyes flashed to hers for confirmation and Addie nodded. "I didn't hear the whole conversation. I keep thinking that you must have said something that made his messed up brain think you wanted him to touch you because the alternative…." Damon's pursed lips turned white as he shook his head slowly.

"The alternative is what?" she prompted.

Damon hesitated as he mulled over his words, not wanting to frighten Addie. His words were slow and deliberate, "A man can be evil in many ways. I've done a lot of horrible things but I've never allowed there to be an issue of consent. That's a whole different level of depraved. I've been hoping that Klaus has had some sense of decency and that wouldn't be an issue. Perhaps I've been naive."

Addie laughed bitterly as she recalled her conversation with Klaus. With a curious look from Damon she asked, "Exactly how much of the conversation did you overhear?"

"I came around when you were banging your head on the countertop because you were getting frustrated with him. It took me awhile together because you'd taken of with my car keys in my jacket pocket," he accused with a frown. He'd also probably let her stay outside too long without being checked on in his tired state but he wasn't going to own up to that.

"I didn't ask you play the dark knight, rescuing a damsel in distress," she snapped back, holding her head up proudly.

Damon's jaw tensed as he reluctantly nodded in agreement. "I know, Ads. I didn't know where you'd gone or what was up. When I saw who you were with, you bet your ass I wanted to play the dark knight and rescue you. I could smell the fresh blood from more people than I knew were in the restaurant. I knew you were in there with at least one person he had killed. I was so fucking angry at you for being so reckless and going to meet him," Damon growled as he fisted a hand through his hair. "I'm still pissed."

Addie looked away from him but she heard him inhale deeply, hold it, and exhale slowly.

More calmly he continued, "But I trusted you to play it smart, play it cool. I trusted that you could handle Klaus, like you always say you can. I was right outside the door but if he decided to suddenly kill you, I wouldn't have made it in time."

"If you heard the conversation from the point where I was annoyed with him talking about the relevance of the Brotherhood of the Five, you'll know that he wasn't there to kill me," she mumbled, unable to meet Damon's face.

More deep breathing helped Damon to control his anger. However, he'd uprooted several small trees after hearing Addie and Klaus' conversation, which had been much more effective.

"Given the limited information Klaus would share, his interest in you, how he's interacted with you, what his fixations in life are and such, Echidna was a strong contender for the mythological creature he was alluding to," Damon eventually growled out through gritted teeth.

She finally looked at him with hurt as she asked, "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you warn me?"

"I didn't want it to be true. I didn't want to frighten you. Lamia, a monster who was said to be very attractive and devoured children and suffered sleeplessness was also very likely. I mean, you naturally have two of those three traits and the third is tied to vampires and we knew whatever you were had something to do with vampires. Ads, it was either Mother of All Monsters or -"

Recalling something, Addie interrupted, "You told me you didn't think it was Lamia when I gave you the drawing Klaus did."

"Before I had all the facts. I found some more research on her," Damon explained, mildly annoyed that she was missing the point. He'd only been trying to protect her.

"So, what do we do?" Addie wondered, rubbing at her temple. It felt like the thoughts were spilling out of her head as fast as they came in.

"Drive the-"

"If you say drive the White Oak Stake into him, I'm gonna scream," Addie warned.

Damon splayed his hands widely and looked at her innocently. "It's a valid solution."

"We need a solution that doesn't involve murder!"

"It's not murder if it's self-defense."

"In a court of law, premeditated murder isn't considered self-defense," she snapped back furiously.

He hated it when Addie had technicalities on her side to win. Except this time, she didn't win. She couldn't change his mind. Damon scowled and crossed his arms, "Luckily we wouldn't be tried in a court of law."

"You realize you can't beat him in a fair fight. You would have to set another stupid trap. You wouldn't feel guilty about that?"

"Nope," he replied easily.

Her lips pressed into a thin line as she considered him. Stefan had felt guilty about sending Klaus to his death. Softly she demanded, "How can you not?"

"I know the difference between right and wrong. I understand them. It would be wrong to trap him and I know that makes you feel guilty but I don't," Damon said unapologetically.

Addie shook her head in disbelief and whispered, "I don't get how you can't."

"I don't let myself because one of us has to be willing to do whatever it takes to make sure you're safe."

Addie's heart sank as she watched Damon leave the room without a goodbye.

***/***

"So, this sire bond thing," Jeremy started nonchalantly as he setup a game of Call of Duty the next night. "How does it impact you and Damon?"

"We're broken up. There isn't an _us_ for it to impact," Addie snapped as she snatched the controller he held out to her. She'd been very careful to not lie to her brother. It had been a matter of semantics but she hadn't lied to him.

He frowned disapprovingly as he plopped on the couch next to her. Addie could read the anger on his face as he navigated the game's menu. As the game loaded she blew out a puff of air in annoyance.

Wearily she asked, "What is your problem?"

Jeremy jumped into the game and began to scout the playing field. He killed two enemies before answering irritably, "She keeps calling him. And he keeps replaying the voicemails."

That was news. Addie wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"Why does it bother you?" she wondered. Maybe it should bug her.

"Look, don't get me wrong, you're both my sisters and I love you both," Jeremy said quickly, his eyes flashing to her just long enough to get himself shot.

"But?" Addie inferred.

"But Elena was just with Stefan. And now she's trying to move in on Damon. Which she's tried to do before. Only before you hadn't dated Damon so it wasn't so bad. Or you were off in England and said you understood if they were flirting. This isn't that," Jeremy stressed, feeling his chest start to warm up.

Other than the fact that the issue of Damon and Elena seemed to be continuous, Addie wasn't sure she saw his point. But perhaps he didn't understand the situation.

"Elena's sired to Damon. She didn't choose to have feelings for him again," Addie emphasized. It was the same thing she had to keep reminding herself.

"I know! But, come on. She could be a little more tactful about it. They both could. I mean, you're already fucking depressed. They can't be stupid enough to think they're actually helping the situation!" Jeremy exclaimed in frustration.

Addie found a corner for her character to hide in, wishing she could do the same in real life. In a small voice she asked, "How long have you noticed I've been depressed?"

"Awhile. I guess around the time Alaric died."

She frowned. She hadn't even realized she had been heading downhill since then but Jeremy had always been the first to pick up on when she was getting depressed in the past. He'd been her rock.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" she asked, trying to hide her hurt feelings.

"I figured it wasn't my place. You were with Damon," Jeremy grumbled as he pretended to focus more intently on the game.

Addie paused the game and quickly swung her open palm against the back of her brother's head.

"Ow!" he wailed, rubbing at where she hit him.

"That's for thinking anyone could replace the spot of my big brother," Addie scorned as she gave him a massive hug.

* * *

It was only around ten but Addie knew Damon would have Jeremy up at sunrise again. She'd insisted that her brother put the video games up and go to bed. Addie had waited in her room for about half an hour for Damon to show up before deciding to knock at his door.

"Come in," Damon called.

Addie swiftly moved into the room and closed the door behind her. She wasn't sure she wanted Jeremy to know about her meetings with Damon.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up," murmured Damon, stepping out of the bathroom.

Addie clasped a hand over her eyes when she realized he was clad only in a pair of boxers. With flushing cheeks she scowled, "Put some clothes on."

Damon's mouth dropped open with shock as he studied her body language. She was serious.

"No way," he scoffed. "I just showered and changed for bed. Not to mention, you've literally seen me in less."

"We were dating!" she snapped back, as if that settled the matter.

"So? My body hasn't changed."

"It's too intimate, too familiar. It's like if I were to come around you without a bra now," Addie tried to reason.

Damon allowed for a dramatic pause to give the pretext of thinking before saying slowly, "I don't think I would mind that."

Addie made a whining noise and stomped her feet with agitation. He didn't understand why it bothered her so much but it clearly did.

"I'll put a damn shirt on," he scowled, yanking a black John Varvatos t-shirt from the closet.

"Thank you," Addie sighed, dropping her hand just as Damon finished putting on the shirt.

"Did you enjoy playing video games with your brother?"

Addie nodded as she sat cross-legged on the foot of the bed. "Were you spying?"

"Not intentionally but it's not a large house," he admitted.

She nodded again. "I figured."

Damon lounged on the other side of the bed, tucking his hands behind his head. They stared at each other for a few moments in an awkward silence.

"Are you the patient and I'm the therapist for this first hour?" Addie asked. "Because in every cliche picture I've seen of therapy, the patient looks as relaxed as you."

"Sure."

Addie didn't miss a second to inquire, "Are you actually listening to the same voicemails from Elena multiple times?"

Damon chringed; he knew she was going to ask that. Ashamed, his eyes averted from Addie as he confessed, "She's just been leaving voicemails yesterday and today. Yesterday I listened to her voicemails repeatedly. Today I didn't."

"What made the two days different? More new voicemails? I feel like I'm prying but…"

He snorted but reassured her, "It definitely feels like you're being nosy and it's not fun to tell you this stuff but the goal is to break my siree bond. Which, this is directly related to. Yesterday I was so _livid_ and _hurt_ by what I had seen that I was barely even fighting the bond. If I got the urge to hear Elena's voice, I listened to a voicemail. The most I did was resist the urge to go an see Elena and kiss her. I was thinking rationally enough to know that I only wanted to do that to hurt you."

"Um...thanks?" Addie said, her eyebrows knitting together. She wasn't sure how to respond to that. Though, it did remind her of something she needed to ask Damon.

"Today was," Damon stuck his tongue in his cheek as he thought. With a smile he said, "Today was easy. I'm still reacclimating to sleeping alone so that makes every morning rough. This morning, though, I heard your heart faintly beating and I knew the day wasn't going to be as bad."

A small, sad smile flickered on Addie's faces. She wish that knowing Damon was there was still a reassurance of a better day.

"Whenever Elena seemed to cross my mind during the day, it was easier to think of you. There was only one time in the afternoon when I listened to her voicemail and that was because she called back to back and I thought it might be important. I didn't feel an urge to hear her voice until tonight," explained Damon as a large, dopey grin spread across his face.

"What?" Addie demanded sharply.

He grin turned into more of a smirk as he told her, "Then I heard you laughing with Jeremy and that was so much better. I did listen to all the voicemails she left today while you guys played games but only to make sure I didn't miss anything important."

"Sounds like a good day."

Damon sighed as he tugged at his collar. He understood about the clothes putting another untouchable barrier between them. It left him feeling stiff and formal around the girl he wanted to snuggle.

"Good is a relative term," he muttered darkly. He'd done good with resisting temptations of Elena but he'd had further insight into just how distant Addie was keeping him. He'd need more from her if he was going to break the sire bond but she was still too fragile for him to ask so much of her.

"That's a very Addie thing to say. I don't approve," she reprimanded.

He arched a single, inquisitive eyebrow at her. "You don't approve of me sounding like you?"

"Yes. This," she waved here handed between them, "doesn't work when we're both being pessimistic. Someone has to be looking the glass half-full."

"And you have dibs on being the pessimistic one?" he scowled.

Addie scoffed mockingly, "Obviously. I told you to kill me the night you met me. Didn't you get the memo then?"

The ghost of a smile on her lips told Damon she was kidding. Despite this, he frowned at her and said seriously, "That's not funny to me. You were serious. You dying is something that will never be funny to me."

Addie crossed her arms and bit her tongue to keep from asking Damon what bug crawled up his ass. It had been like his mood had done a complete 180 after she said he'd had a good day.

"You know how a lot of the times I'm not in a bad mood until someone says I'm in a bad mood?" Addie mused, twisting a finger in her hair.

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head in mild annoyance. Addie could be so damn random. He thought he'd been doing a better job of following her bizarre thinking patterns but he couldn't see how this was connected.

"Yes," he breathed out though his teeth.

"Are you, like, doing the opposite?" she asked hesitantly. "Like I said you had a good day but now you're determined to pick a fight with me to ruin it." Addie held up her hand when Damon started to interrupt her. "I wanted you to actually think about your answer. You might not even realize you're doing it."

Alright. He could figure out how Addie had jumped to that topic. It wasn't as random as he thought.

Damon glared at the wood ceiling. He couldn't lie to. Or he could and then that would just piss her off. He couldn't burden her with _all_ of the truth. The only way not to fight with her was to tell her a version of the truth.

"I had a day. It wasn't good. It wasn't bad. I'm not in the best mood because I realized it wasn't a good day. Sure, I might have resisted Elena but that's about the only thing that went right. Your brother is nowhere near ready to fight vampires. You're depressed. And I still haven't come up with a solution that doesn't involve killing Klaus," Damon ranted.

Addie place her hand reassuringly on his knee and gently squeezed. "Damon, be realistic with yourself. Jeremy's trained for two days. Even the military takes at least seven weeks for boot camp. You can't work miracles overnight. My depression is exactly that: _mine_. It also has nothing to do with you so, yeah. You're doing you're talks with me for that. Again, it won't be an overnight miracle. But, also, getting better is my responsibility, not yours. As far as Klaus…"

Addie's confidence faltered as she floundered for words of wisdom and comfort.

"You were on a roll. You were giving a really great pep talk. It was working," Damon said, his lips twisted into a crooked smile. His eyes sparkled as he asked, "Do you do that for yourself?"

She snorted bitterly, "I do but then I realize I'm talking out my ass. Trust me, Damon. I can give advice but I can't take it. I _get_ why you feel responsible for my depression and Jeremy's poor performance. I would, too.

"But you just perfectly reasoned why I shouldn't using logic," Damon pointed out. "Are you saying you _couldn't_ take you own logic and reasoning and would still feel responsible?"

"Exactly."

"That makes no sense."

Addie frowned in confusion. "Well, I came up with the logical argument therefore I could find flaw with the logical argument." It made perfect sense.

"I think your issue is you spend too much time thinking," decided Damon.

"No doubt," she conceded with a hint of cheek, "I like to believe my active mind is what gives me my winning disposition."

"It's definitely part of what makes you so unique," he agreed.

"So, you had a reasonably good day?" Addie asked, looking at him. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish at her challenging expression. Holding up a warning finger she reminded, "You can't beat yourself up for forces outside of your control. I already do enough of that for both of us."

Damon's lips pursed as he thought. Putting Jeremy's crappy training and Addie depression aside, he still hadn't made any progress on the Klaus issue. He'd resisted Elena but he'd realized just how fractured things were with Addie. But Addie was here and she was fighting for him. She put herself through hell because she thought he was worth fighting for.

"Do you still love me?" Damon asked, knowing the answer.

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Yes, of course, but what does that have to do with the question?"

"Tell me you love me and I'll have a good day. Not a _reasonably_ good day, but a _good_ day."

Addie fought a smile as she recited, " Love is not love  
Which alters when it alteration finds,  
Or bends with the remover to remove.  
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark  
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;  
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,  
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.  
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks  
Within his bending sickle's compass come;  
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,  
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.  
If this be error and upon me prov'd,  
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd."

His hand ruffled his hair as he recalled the words. Love did not fade when it find changes in the loved one. Addie still loved him even though he couldn't control whatever feelings he had developed for Elena.

Love is guiding star to lost ships that is not susceptible to storms. Addie was his guide in the storm that was the sire bond.

Love is not susceptible to time. Addie would always love him.

Damon's chuckle was deep and throaty as he grinned at her. "You ever notice how you don't do things the simple way? Actually, one of the first things I thought the very first time you told me that poem was that only you would turn three little words into a complicated riddle. I completely adored it. I'm still enamored by it. It's just so… _you_. How did you know it was exactly what I needed to hear?"

Addie's hair had fallen in curtains around her flushing cheeks. She could never fully explain to Damon what he meant to her but Shakespeare's _Sonnet 116_ was a close start. Clearing her throat, she picked her head up slightly, but was still unable to meet his eyes as she said, "I told you those three words are overused. I could have said them, and you would have known I meant them but you already know I love you. You needed something more personal if it was what determined that you had a good day."

"Actually, it tipped my day to great," he admitted, nudging her with his foot. He wanted to hold her hand but she was too far away and he didn't want to do anything that might push her away.

If Addie could still read what he truly needed without him knowing it, then perhaps the divide between them wasn't so bad. He could deal with physically craving closeness if she was still allowing psychological intimacy.

"How are you?"

"I drank a miserable protein shake at breakfast and at dinner. Please don't ask me if I want another. I don't," Addie sulked, her mood instantly deflating.

"Alright," Damon agreed," but I didn't ask you if you ate."

She made an indignant noise as she crossed her arms. "I'm depressed. I'm not sure what you want me to tell you."

"Tell me three things you accomplished today."

"Accomplished?" she asked, saying the word as if it were foreign.

He nodded. "Yeah. Things you feel good about doing today. Or you don't even have to feel good about doing them. They were just things you had to get done and you did them."

"I forced down those protein shakes," Addie thought of instantly. The other two required a few minutes of thought. "I finished a history paper I was suppose to turn in before the term ended. Does playing video games with Jeremy count as an accomplishment?"

"It totally does. Very good. What were three things you struggled with?"

Addie snorted, "Only three?"

"Only the top three."

There were so many. How was she supposed to pick the top three?

"I've been stressing out over whatever Klaus has told me. I guess my big stress right now is how to protect myself and then I'll worry about what it all means," Addie mumbled, mostly to herself as she traced a stripe on the bedspread.

"I've hit a wall with my music. When I'm feeling extreme emotions it usually comes so easily but I've been obsessing over the lyrics about one song and I can't make any other music work because I'm so hung up on that song," she confessed, scowling in frustration. Annoyed, she grumbled, "It's not even an important song."

Addie scratched at her forehead as she decided on her last struggle of the day. "I guess you overheard Jeremy point out that Elena's had feelings for you before and you guys have a history of flirting and I know you had feelings for her before. It feels like every other month I'm competing against Elena for your attention even though she has a boyfriend! And you even told me when I was in London that you were taking her side because it was easier to protect her that way than having to cconstantly defend me against her. Like, I get it but it's just the same damn thing, just a different scene."

Damon made to speak but Addie held up her hand to stop him as she had a sudden enlightenment.

"The song I'm stuck on is about being stuck in the same ruts. The cycles of being bipolar. Up or down. You and Elena repeating. Some new supernatural threat every six weeks. Loving and hurting. I'm stuck because I haven't been resisting!" Addie exclaimed.

Damon's lips pursed as he studied her bright face. Slowly he said, "I'm not sure what that means."

"I've been letting life happen to me and accepting it. _You_ compelled me to take control of my life. I've stopped doing the. I've been accepting the shit life throws at me," she gasped with amazed realization. "I've been taking a _re_ active approach instead of _pro_ active."

"Uh-huh," he nodded, not quite convinced. "Can you give me an example?"

"The Klaus situation! I've been thinking of how I can protect myself now, a reactive response. The proactive response is to kill the bastard before things get really screwed up!"

"Now, are you saying we should be killing Klaus?" he asked warily.

"No. That would go against my morals."

"Obviously."

"I'll be right back," she reassured him, before running out of the room.

When Addie returned with a pen and notebook, she sat next to Damon, leaning against the headboard.

Lazily Damon peered at her out of the corner of his eyes. She could be so peculiar. Uncertain he wanted to know the answer he asked slowly, "What exactly are you doing?"

"Multitasking," Addie mumbled as she scribbled in the book furiously, "I'm not stuck on the lyrics anymore but I still have mandated therapy with you. I want to get my thoughts out before I lose them."

"Are you going to share them with me?" he asked hopefully.

A nervous hand ran through Addie's hair as she sighed, "I don't want you to take any of this personally."

"So, it's about me?"

"Mmm," she considered as she crossed through a line that didn't fi. "It's about my reaction to you, Klaus, Elena, Jeremy, the fact that my life has been taken over by the supernatural, the stupid circles that keep repeating. I've just been going with the flow and not fighting back. Now it's biting me in the ass in the form of depression."

"You really think that's it?" Damon remarked with n arched eyebrow.

She nodded, passing him the notebook. "When you compelled me to take control of my life again, I felt empowered. I started doing what I _wanted_ to do and didn't keep letting myself feel beaten up by the world. I need to start doing that again. Unfortunately, I'm pretty bad at that. What I _want_ to do tends to be more selfish and reckless than what I _should_ do so I stick to the status quo and do what I _should_ do."

Damon could see that. She had been brasher and bolder when she had been compelled but that had eventually ebbed away. He never really knew Addie to do something she didn't want to do but perhaps that was because she was always doing what she felt she should do. She claimed to be selfish, and she could be, but for the most part, she was very selfless.

'"I can read this?" he asked, holding up the notebook.

Addie nodded hessistantly, focusing intently on her nails. It was still a very vulnerable experience to share her music with Damon even if it was only the lyrics. Noticing his eyes drift to the top of the page she warned him, "It's not complete. And it sounds better with the actual music."

"I know," Damon murmured, waving a dismissive hand. "Just let me read it, Ads."

 _Consider me gone by morning  
I know what you want so I won't hang around  
As you let me down  
I'd consider you wrong but I'm the fool  
To keep letting you come around  
Just to let me down_

Damon's brows furrowed in thought. Did he keep repeatedly letting Addie down? She had said he didn't want him to take the song personally. She'd also said it been about Elena. Addie and Elena had given each other plenty of chances but one or both of them always managed to screw it up. It was highly possible she was referring to Elena.

It felt like a blow to the stomach as Damon considered that Addie could possibly be feeling like she was being repeatedly let down by everyone. It went with her abandonment issues.

 _I let it get this far_  
 _But you had me from the start_  
 _Feels like lifetime in fact_  
 _Still we keep coming back_

There was no way she wasn't talking about him there. Addie had admitted that he'd had some kind of hold over her from when they first met. They'd been through hell and back multiple times. His time with Addie had definitely flown by but also seemed to drag on longer than some decades.

 _It's the same routine just a different scene  
And I don't believe in resisting  
It's the same old stunt just a different month  
And you know that I still can't resist  
Can't get over this  
I'll see you around  
Next time you let me down_

There were the ruts she had been talking about and not fighting back. His latter thought was right. Everyone was letting Addie down. The world was letting her down.

 _I don't expect a response my darling  
After you get what you want so I won't hang around  
For you to let me down  
So I'll put up these walls my darling  
And I say that I'm done but you know better now  
You still let me down_

 _I don't see this getting better  
Cause I've always been in way too deep  
And you know me better  
I'm bad at this whole resisting thing_

Something made Damon want to think that was about Klaus or possibly himself but he had a greater feeling it was Addie talking to herself. She felt so lost and hopeless that she couldn't even trust in herself to fight her way out of the darkness. He completely believed that Addie would tell herself she was done with him and the supernatural and find herself sucked back into it. He had watched her break down because she felt she _had_ to help break his end of the sire bond. Realizing just how deeply she hurted because of her love for him only made Damon feel guilty.

 _It's easier to make mistakes  
Than to make you stay away  
It's easier for my heart to break  
Than to feel nothing at all  
It's better to let you be fake  
For one minute  
I'll close my eyes and pretend that I don't die a little inside_

That was him. That was about the sire bone. He was 100% certain of that. It broke her heart to know that he had feeling for Elena. But did she truly believe that he was faking his feelings for her? His love for her was still powerful and genuine. Though, if the roles were reversed, he would be dying if she had a sire bond to Stefan. In fact, a little bit of him had died when he saw Klaus kiss her.

"You're crying," Addie whispered in horror as a single tear rolled down Damon's cheek.

"It's beautiful," he said, swatting the tear away, "but it's painfully raw. I can feel your pain on the page."

Addie nodded as she offhandedly commented, "It's strange how written words can convey so much without hearing the speaker's tone. You can feel my pain just as acutely as I felt yours when you left that note on my windshield."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They make my day! Sorry for the delay in update. I wanted to have some tender moments between Addie and Damon but it took awhile to arrive there organically. Next chapter Klaus pays the cabin a visit and Addie has a plan.**


	12. Chapter 12

The sound of Damon's knuckles rapping on the hardwood of Addie's door echoed through the cabin. A crease was formed between his eyebrows as he listened to her racing heart, soft whimpers and restless movement. This had occurred nearly every night they had been at the lakehouse but at some point Addie would usually settle down and get some restful sleep. She hadn't that night.

"Dude, you've been pounding for five minutes," Jeremy said through a yawn as he appeared at Damon's side. He was dressed for their morning workout but hadn't bothered to brush his hair. Damon would just push him until it was plastered to his head in sweat anyways. "Considering it's six in the morning, I'm pretty sure she's asleep."

Damon's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as he focused on Jeremy. The boy and his incompetence was quickly pissing him off. Jeremy was the only semblance of a solution Damon had to the Klaus issue and the fact that the boy was not progressing in his training as fast as Damon wanted left him highly frustrated.

"I know she's asleep," he spat. "I'm trying to wake her up because she's been having nightmares all night."

Jeremy shook his head sadly as he sighed heavily, "I don't know why nightmares have always been such a problem for her. It probably has something to do with all her anxiety. Not to mention she's been through more than here fair share of trauma."

Damon's eyebrow arched in surprise. He had assumed the nightmares were mostly a result of her time spent with Klaus and Addie had never really corrected that.

"Do you really think you're helping the nightmare situation," Jeremy sneered, his upper lip curling in disgust.

Damon frowned slightly and asked defensively, "What do you mean by that?"

"You and Elena flaunting _whatever_ ," he scowled, waving his hand expressively, "is going on between you two right in front of Addie."

"It's complicated. Addie understands that," growled Damon, reassuring himself just as much as Jeremy.

"Sure," her brother nodded, unconvinced. His voice lowered to a threatening level as he hissed, "I also know you aren't stupid. You've picked up that Addie can be quite sensitive and melancholic. If you continue to make things worse for her the first vampire I'm going to kill is you."

Jeremy's shoulder shoved into Damon as he knocked past the vampire and barged into his sister's room. Addie had kicked the blanket to the floor. The flimsy sheet clung to her sweat drenched body. Taking a spare pillow, Jeremy whacked her in the face with it. Hard.

"Ow!" Addie whined loudly, throwing up her hands to block a second blow. The pillow made contact with her hands and she wrenched it from Jeremy's hold. Addie smothered herself with it as she snipped, "What the fuck, Jer?"

No one else was cruel enough to wake her in such a fashion. In his defense, she had started waking him in the same way when they were very young.

"Damon said you're training with me this morning," lied Jeremy. He glanced at the vampire, lingering in the doorway, and set him a glare that suggested Damon had better go along with what he had said.

"Well, you can tell Damon I said he can go fuck himself," Addie grumbled, blindiy searching for the blanket as she shivered.

"You are just full of _fucks_ this morning, aren't you?" Jeremy teased with fake disapproval.

Addie cracked one eye open just enough to see that the alarm clock said _5:27_ and groaned, " _Fuck_ is the only word in my vocabulary before seven o'clock. Get the _fuck_ out of my room. I'm not _fucking_ training with you at five in the _fucking_ morning!"

"You do realize you used words beyond fuck and therefore it is not the only word in your vocabulary this early?" he smirked, knowing it would irk her.

 _And people wondered how she learned to be such a smartass?!_

Growling, Addie chucked the pillow he had hit her with in his face.

Jeremy chuckled as he tossed it back onto the bed and warned, "Get up or Damon's going to drag your ass out of bed."

"So, you were my _nice_ wake up call?" Addie scoffed, pulling the pillow over her face.

"Yep," Jeremy grinned, leaving the room.

Damon leaned on the doorframe watching Addie as she silently pounded her heels into the mattress, swatting at the sheet that stuck to her.

After a moment of consideration, Damon shut the door and stated, "You're not moving very quickly."

"I'm not very interested in your training session," she retorted, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"Maybe not but I'm pretty sure you're very interested in preserving the life of your brother," Damon quipped.

The pillow moved slightly as Addie shook her head in annoyance. It was too early for stressful thoughts like Jeremy dying. Huffing, she threw the pillow aside and looked pointedly at Damon, "That's why you're supposed to be training him."

He held his hands up in surrender and said, "I am but he _sucks_. I've been sparring with him for days. I'm not convinced I won't snap his neck today."

Addie gave him a sour look of disbelief.

"Fine," Damon shrugged nonchalantly. "I know he has that knifty little ring to bring him back but I thought you'd be concerned about him using it and developing a killer alter ego. Then we'll have to permanently kill him. But if you're fine with me snapping his neck, I would be more than happy to. I thought _you_ could be stubborn and obstinate but Jeremy…." Damon scoffed in frustration before adding, "At least it's hot when you do it."

There was a slight tremble to Addie's hand as she pushed a damp strand of hair off her forehead. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep as she pointed out, "You do recall I can tell when you're lying."

"Fair enough. I'm not going to kill your brother but I would prefer it if you spar with him today."

The tired glare Addie gaze him told Damon she knew he wasn't telling the whole truth. Letting out a loud breath he sat down on the foot of the bed. He became very interested in his hands as he softly admitted, "I haven't slept all night?"

A wave of concern shot through Addie as she sat up and demanded, "Why not?"

Damon's shoulders tensed and a muscle in his jaw jumped. He didn't want to stress Addie out on the the off chance that she hadn't remembered her nightmare. He asked stiffly, "How did you sleep?"

Her fingers flitted nervously over the damp sheet pooled in her lap. She didn't wake up in cold sweats when she slept with Damon but it was becoming more common. Her cheeks flushed as she mumbled, "I'm pretty sure you already know."

"Ads, you don't need to be embarrassed," he whispered reassuringly. Damon wiped his palms on his pants, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her.

"How many normal people have nightmares every night?" she whined indignantly.

"After I turned my humanity back on, it was probably two or three years before I had a solid night of sleep without the aid of alcohol. Our memories are intricately intertwined in who we are. It's not strange that regrets or traumatic events seep into our dreams," Damon said softly.

Addie groaned in despair as she flopped on her back, pulling a pillow over her face.

Resting on his forearms next to her, Damon wondered, "What did I say wrong?"

"Nothing," she exhaled, shoving the pillow under his head. "Why didn't you sleep?"

"I was waiting for you to stop having a nightmare," he admitted, meeting her deep blue eyes. He smirked as she bit her lip and a crease formed between her eyebrows. "I don't mean that in a creepy way."

"I know. You do it because you care. I just feel guilty about keeping you up," Addie explained with a small smile.

The corners of Damon's lips turned up as his thumb traced the curve of Addie's. It was nice to see her smile, even if it wasn't necessarily a happy one.

His chuckle was deeper than usual, his voice still slightly hoarse from lack of use through the night. "It's nothing to feel guilty about, love. I could sleep if I wanted. I just don't like to knowing you're in distress. Most nights the dreams usually stop after a few hours. Do you know why last night was so bad?"

Addie shuddered involuntary as her mind flashed back. She didn't want to tell Damon she had spent the night agonizing over all the different horrible ways Klaus could try to bear one of his experiments and the torture that would be.

"Normally I wake up in the middle of the night and I can calm myself out of the nightmare because it's in the past. Last night my dreams were all about horrible stuff that could go wrong in the future. Each time I would wake up, I couldn't calm down because it was something that could actually happen," she explained. It was enough of the truth that she didn't feel like she was lying to him.

Damon stroked her hair as he smiled despite himself. "You seriously don't know how to turn your brain off, do you?"

She laughed humorlessly, "I wish."

"You could sleep with me and we would both get a better night's sleep," he offered hopefully.

"You are the king of wishful thinking," scoffed Addie, playfully shoving her hand in his face.

Damon quickly took the opportunity to interlace their fingers and gave her a crooked grin. "I think every guy wishes to sleep next to a beautiful, intriguing woman that's in love with him every night."

"Perhaps but I'm pretty sure no woman dreams about sleeping next to man who has complicated feelings for her sister," she retorted slowly, withdrawing her hand from his.

Addie rubbed at her face, trying to clear the sleep from her eyes and brain. Being with Damon was dangerous. It was so easy and familiar with him. But there was always the painful reminder of the sire bond lingering in the background. And the fact that he didn't deserve to deal with all her crazy moods.

Damon's stomach churned as she tried to hide her struggles and pain. He gently hooked a finger under her chin and stared at her until she reluctantly met his ocean blue gaze. Intently he insisted, "I still love you, Addie. I'm still _in love_ with you. I'm not certain about a lot of things right now but I have no doubt about how I feel about you." He felt her start to open her mouth and applied more pressure under her chin to signal he wasn't done. "I know the issue isn't how I feel about you. It's how I feel about Elena. I have faith that we will break the sire bond and it won't be an issue. I just wanted to remind you that I am unconditionally and forever in love with you."

A swell of anxieties and self-conscious concerns came with the words _unconditionally_ and _forever_ but Addie forced herself to push them down and simply whisper, "I know."

The atmosphere of the room shifted as Damon asked with an impish grin, "Wanna kick your brother's ass?"

"I need a shower," Addie grumbled, acutely aware of her shirt sticking to the light sheen of sweat on her back.

"You're just going to get all sweaty again anyways. Besides, I wanna make sure you haven't lost any of those reflexes and skills Ric and I thought you," Damon countered with finality as he sat up.

Addie scowled at the determined set to Damon's. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Nope," he declared, popping the _p_ like she frequently did. "Be outside and ready to train in fifteen minutes."

The pillow Addie throw at him fell short and he only laughed at her as he shut the door as he left. They both knew that she technically did have a choice but Damon would argue with her until she eventually gave in out of sheer annoyance. He was glad he had caught her first thing in the morning and she was still too groggy to be her stubborn self. The exercise and fresh air would do her good.

* * *

Addie held a padded target mitt on each hand for Jeremy to throw punches at. She didn't throw any back at him but she kept moving around. It was very obvious that Jeremy was not very coordinated on his feet. He had the brute strength and Addie's hands were starting to go numb from all the impact but he didn't have technique.

"That's not bothering you?" Jeremy panted in between punches.

She followed his line of sight to Damon, at the edge of the dock, listening to a voicemail, presumably from Elena. More annoyed with her brother for pointing it out than with Damon, she took a quick step to the right, causing his jab to swing wide.

Succinctly she lied, "No."

Jeremy through another punch that made contact but it wasn't as strong as it could be.

Walking back up the dock Damon barked, "You're supposed to be helping him, Addie."

After shooting him a dirty glare, Addie reluctantly advised her brother, "Your shoulder was too high. You need to keep it relaxed and drop. It keeps rising up to your ear."

"I didn't say tell him what he's doing wrong. I've been doing that for days. _Show him_!"

"I'm not hurting him!" she snapped back.

Jeremy grinned arrogantly as he wiped sweat off his forehead. "Oh, please. You couldn't even get in a punch."

There boys were getting on her nerves.

"Fine," relented Addie, tossing aside the target mitts and reading herself in a fighting stance. When Jeremy eyed her warily she mimicked, "You couldn't even get in a punch."

Jeremy looked to Damon for confirmation.

Leaning against a picnic table, Damon nodded certainly. "Addie can hold her own. I don't want either one of you holding back."

Jeremy threw a punch and was caught off guard when Addie stepped into it. Her hand grabbed his wrist as her bony hip twisted to jab into his gut, forcing him to exhale in pain. Her free hand landed on his far shoulder and encouraged him to roll over her hip in a sort of throw. There was a loud thump as he landed on the forest floor. Her knee jabbed into his chest as she leaned over his groaning form.

"Never underestimate your opponent just because you're stronger and suddenly faster," she warned softly, before offering a hand to help him up. Addie's eyes flashed to Damon for approval as she asked hopefully, "Did you see that?"

"It was hard to miss," he commented dryly, turning away from the lake. "It was in slow motion."

Color flooded Addie's cheeks as she shot back protectively, "He's my brother! I wasn't going to hurt him!"

"Teach me something useful," Jeremy demanded as he brushed himself off, his pride wounded. "We've been here for days, and so far, all you've done is bark orders."

"Ok," Damon decided, picking a stake up off the table and throwing it to Jeremy. "Step aside, Ads. Kid wants a shot at the title."

"Jeremy, don't-" Addie started but her brother had already taken off at full speed, charging at Damon.

With ease, Damon grabbed Jeremy by the arm and spun him so his back was pressed against Damon's chest. His hand lodged around Jeremy's neck, cutting off most of his air supply.

"Damon," Addie warned warily as Jeremy began to swat at the hand around his neck.

"Now, all I have to do is apply a little pressure on your jaw," he whispered to Jeremy, demonstrating as he did so. Jeremy's face twisted in pain, unable to draw in enough breath to properly cry out.

The sound of tires crunched on the twigs and leaves, causing Damon to discard Jeremy with a scoff of disgust as he read the _Lakeside Pizza_ sign on the truck. Addie's nose crinkled in disgust at the idea of food while her brother's eyes lit up.

"Double pepperoni, three days in a row," the pizza delivery girl commented to Jeremy with a teasing smile as he jogged up to her to take the box. "You guys eat anything?"

"Why? You offering?" Damon asked from behind the girl, moving faster than Jeremy. She spun around, slightly startled. Her head tilted back slightly to look up at him. Damon slipped a bill into her hand as he took the pizza. He gave her one of his flirty, irresistible grins as he instructed, "That's something extra to cut off the pizza pipeline for a couple of days, no matter how much they beg."

"What?! You're going to starve us now?" Jeremy exclaimed in outrage.

"If that's what it takes to make you into a Hunter," Damon retorted, tossing the box on the table. Snidely he added, "Now, run around the lake…. twice."

Begrudgingly Jeremy took off. Damon studied Addie for a second before deciding, "Keep him company."

"I don't have to listen to you," she scoffed, a smile of disbelief tugging at her lips.

"You do if you want to eat!" He retorted without thinking.

Addie snorted, opened the pizza box, and grabbed the smallest slice. She gave him a defiant look as she took a small bite. It tasted like greasy cardboard and was hard to swallow. It was the first solid thing she had eaten in days, if not a week. The single bite settled like a lead weight in her stomach. Having made her point that Damon would not control her, Addie tossed the slice bak in the back.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked up at him through her lashes as she commented, "Elena's voicemail seems to have put you in a pissy mood."

Damon's felt his cheeks turn red in shame. He was _not_ going to explain to Addie that he was sexually frustrated over Elena. The voicemails were nothing more than Elena simply stating she missed him and wished he would let her come see him. Yet, somehow, they had a direct line to his libido. He was angry with himself for acutely missing the physical touches of Addie. The feel of her lips. Her hands on his neck, in his hair, over his chest. The softness of her skin. Her warmth. If he could just hold her he could forget all about Elena.

"I need to go shower and clean up," Addie said, when it became apparent Damon wasn't going to reply to her comment. "I have some appointments and such to take care of back in Mystic Falls today."

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Damon rocked back on his heels. He tried to mask his nervousness as he asked, "You'll be back tonight?"

"That was the plan," Addie mumbled, stretching her arms overhead to keep from fidgeting. "Would it be easier for you if I stayed in town? Gave you space to think for a night? Or to just moon over Elena's voicemails without getting cranky?"

Obviously he wanted Addie to come back. Damon growled in frustration, tugging at his hair, "Why are you trying to start something?"

Addie let out a sharp puff of air as her hands clasped over her face. "I'm not _intentionally_ ," she bemoaned. "It's pointless to have the same damn fight over and over again about the sire bond. It's just…. Did you _have_ to listen to the voicemail right now? I was standing right here! I thought my presence was supposed to make the temptations easier."

"You do. She called when Carol Lockwood's memorial service was scheduled. I thought it might have been an emergency," he placated.

"Was it?" she challenged skeptically, already knowing the answer.

Reluctantly he confirmed, "No."

"God, I hate her," Addie muttered to herself.

Damon frowned as he reminded her, "You do realize she's impacted by this sire bond even more than I am?"

"Yes," Addie sulked, sensing a mini-lecture.

"But you still love me and are supporting me through this, yes?"

Addie only rolled her eyes in response.

"You don't hate your sister," Damon insisted.

"No but it's so much easier to be pissed off at her!" Addie snapped. In a single breathe she ranted, "I can be mad at her. I can be mad at both of you because it took _both of you_ to form the sire bond. I can be mad at myself for not being enough for you or for my sister turning into a vampire. I can be mad at Stefan for not being enough for Elena. I can be mad at Katherine for making me fall for you!"

Addie took a deep breath and looked up at the sky as she softly confessed, "But I can't keep being mad at _you_ because I need you too much right now and I hate that."

Damon crossed his arms to stop himself from pulling her into them. He knew that she meant that she hated needing him and hated that she couldn't keep feeling angry. There was a sagging to her shoulders, as if she carried the weight of the world.

"I hate being the reason that you hurt," he said lamely, having no words of wisdom or comfort.

"I know. I need to get ready," she sniffled, brushing an unfallen tear from the corner of her eye and heading back to the house.

* * *

Damon scowled as he watched Jeremy load the magazine round with wooden bullets and reassemble the pistol. His task completed, he proudly held the gun out to Damon. Furiously, Damon emptied the chamber onto the picnic table. The boy was too slow. They were all screwed if he was the best plan they had.

He handed the pistol back to Jeremy and sneered, "Good. Now do it like your life depends on it, 'cause it does." Damon shook his head in disgust as he turned away.

"Don't act like you care about my life," Jeremy snapped back, standing up. "You care about the Hunter's Mark and curing Elena so she's not sired to your ass."

"Both of which require you to be alive, giving me ample reason to care about your life. It's also why I've updated our relationship status to 'It's Complicated,'" Damon retorted smartly.

"Yours and Addie's or yours and Elena's?" wondered Jeremy.

"Both," Damon snorted humorlessly. He sighed heavily as he rested both palms on the table. "You talk to her at all?"

"Addie?"

He shook his head and mused, "No. I think I have a pretty good sense of where her head is at. I mean Elena."

"Maybe. Why? Running out of voicemails to listen to?"

"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt play time?" came a familiar, accented voice from around the house.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jeremy demanded.

Damon didn't hear Klaus' response. His brain was on autopilot as he resembled the gun. This man had threatened and violated Addie. There was a ringing in Damon's ears as he fired three rounds directly into Klaus' heart. It was satisfactory watching him stagger back as he clutched at his chest, a red splotch seeping onto his clothes.

"That's for kissing my girlfriend," Damon growled.

Despite the agonizing pain as his heart tried to pump around the bullets, Klaus smirked at Damon. "She's not your girlfriend, mate."

 _Screw that._

Damon sent a slug into Klaus' forehead, temporarily killing him. It was one thing for Addie or Jeremy or Elena or even Stefan to remind him that Addie had technically broken up with him. He wasn't going to tolerate hearing it from the bastard who had dared to kiss her.

* * *

Damon sat sharpening the tips of sticks to turn into wooden bullets. His jaw clenched as he heard Klaus approach from behind. He reminded himself not to lose his cool again, for Addie's sake. As much as he hated to admit it, Klaus was even more of a threat to Addie now that they knew what he wanted from her.

"You know, if you adjust your angle a little bit, you'll find a sharper edge," Klaus advised, sitting on the log next to Damon.

Damon's head tilted and his eyes went wide as he looked at Klaus incredulously. His features morphed into a scowl as he seethed, "I know how to whittle, thanks. Now I know why those hybrids hated you; you're annoying."

"Actually, I'm just perplexed as to why Jeremy hasn't killed any vampires." When Damon didn't respond immediately Klaus taunted, "I figured given the situation with Addison you'd be more motivated than ever to find me my cure. Or perhaps she didn't tell you the full story and only mentioned our kiss."

The stick Damon was holding crushed in his hand as he ground his teeth together. He reminded himself again to keep his emotions in check as he picked up another one.

"That you want her to birth your new monstrous breed of mutant hybrid creatures?" he snarled, his lip curling in disgust. "I got the memo. That's more than enough reason for me to want you dead. Unfortunately, Addie has a bit more of a conscience and won't allow that unless you start making moves against her."

"Addie will come around," Klaus said certainly. "She wants children."

"She wants the _option_. She doesn't want to be a victim of reproductive control. And she sure as hell doesn't want some supernatural offspring," Damon scoffed. The guy was delusional.

Klaus' eyebrow rose slightly in mild interest. He'd wondered how'd the revelation of Addie's powers would impact her deal with Damon.

"Have you two discussed that? I thought you would both be a bit more… enthusiastic about Addie's status as an Echidna. Able to bear children and a ridiculously long lifespan without the harsh effects of aging? That essentially gives you every reason to end your 15, well, now 14 year deal," Klaus stated dryly.

Damon's eyes narrowed as he focused more intently on whittling bullets. It would be a lie if he said the possibility of no longer needing their deal hadn't crossed his mind. However, he was in no position to bring it up with Addie. He recognized he was lucky that she was talking to him considering the sire bond. Besides, he couldn't ask Addie to stay with him. _Mother of all Monsters._ A half vampire child would certainly be a monster. Addie had enough to deal with. He knew she desperately wanted a life away from the supernatural and that would never be possible if they had a child. Plus, he was far too selfish to be a dad.

If it was something that needed to be addressed, Addie would bring it up.

"I won't let you touch her," he said eventually.

"And yet, the longer Jeremy goes without killing a vampire, the more tempted I am to _corece_ Addie into seeing things my way. That's what so wonderful about her love and compassion. It leaves plenty of people to threaten and kill," Klaus replied, not bothering to mask the threat in his voice.

Damon didn't doubt this. He knew Klaus was an impatient man. He knew he wanted an army. He commented dryly, "He needs to be able to protect himself before we hunt down his first vampire nest."

Klaus grinned at him sadistically, "And here was I, thinking you were the fun brother! Let's play a little game, shall we? Jeremy needs more victims, and there's a whole town of people down the road, just waiting to be turned into vampires for the slaughter."

"You don't think that occurred to me, Klaus?"

"Tragedy is, Damon, it did occur to you, and, yet, you chose to ignore it. I have no doubt you did it to impress Addie and Elena." With a mocking sneer he continued, "Somehow, to honor them, you will find a way to spare innocent lives and walk Jeremy down the moral high road."

Damon gave Klaus an identical sneer as confirmation.

"Here's the thing. You get to choose. I can take Addie _now_ or you can be a little more focused on getting me my Hunter, moral high road be damned," Klaus said, his voice hard and challenging.

Damon sighed, placing his whittling aside. Elena and Addie were not going to be happy with him. Looking at Klaus he spat, "I suppose you already know that isn't really a choice."

"I had my speculations but I wasn't certain due to the sire bond. Lucky for you I've already made the necessary preparations."

Warily Damon demanded, "What did you do?"

* * *

A weight dropped next to Addie on the couch, startling her from the hazy place between wake sleep. It took a second for her to remember that she was in the Salvatore's library. She had stopped by to pick up more blood bags for Damon before heading back to the lake.

"Your hair's brown," Stefan murmured, picking up a strand and holding it close to his face as if to confirm he wasn't seeing things. He looked at Addie, his bloodshot eyes a bit out of focus as he confirmed it was her. It had been ages since he had seen Addie with her natural hair color. Unwittingly he muttered to himself, "You look so much like her."

"How astute of you to notice," Addie grumbled defensively, tugging the hair back. She'd already felt insecure about the return to brown making her look too similar to Elena. Her brown was a little light than Elena's with caramel highlights but when Addie had seen the final outcome in the salon mirror, she couldn't help but be reminded of her sister.

"How do you do it?" Stefan asked, his voice raw. There was a strong scent of brandy about him. He tried again to focus on her and begged to know, "How do you stand by Damon with the sire? How do you tolerate not knowing what is and isn't real? How does it not _destroy_ you?"

Something in Stefan had finally snapped. He wasn't hurting. He was broken.

Addie placed a comforting had on his cheek, the skin cool to the touch. She softly whispered, "What did she do?"

Stefan began a long story of how Rebekah, undaggered by April Young, had rounded up him, Caroline, and Elena at the school and compelled the truth out of them about what had been happening since she was daggered by Stefan. Kol had appeared with Professor Shane and had almost killed him. Bonnie had managed to save him using magic but had hurt April in the process. Rebekah had also called Tyler to the school and forced him to turn and go after the others.

"That blows," Addie conceded, "but you didn't tell me what's actually got you so torn up."

Stefan slumped down into the couch until his neck rested against the back of it. He frowned at Addie and mumbled, "Under compulsion she said she's in love with Damon. She loves me but she's not _in love_ with me. Being with Damon makes her happy. It feels unpredictable, like she's free. With me she feels like a problem that needs to be fixed, like a broken toy. She thinks she makes me sad."

Addie ground her teeth together while patting Stefan's head as it flopped onto her shoulder.

Elena needed to get over herself. The only reason Damon didn't see her as a problem half the time was because of the sire bond. _All of them_ were emotionally screwed up problems that needed to be fixed. Damon had his sire bond issue and Addie had her mental health issue but they didn't give up on each other because they both recognized it was something that needed to be fixed. Elena was the exact opposite of free when she was with Damon because of the sire bond. It was unpredictable because Damon wasn't necessarily in control of himself and who knew what he'd tell her to do? And being around Damon had always made her happy but she had made her decision to be with Stefan.

"I'm able to stand by Damon and bear the heartbreak because he realizes how problematic the sire bond is and he is doing everything he can to fight it and break it," Addie explained after a very long silence. "I don't know how Elena truly feels but I think a big factor is that she doesn't realize how much of an issue the sire bond is."

"Is that her fault or Damon's?" he grumbled bitterly.

"Damon's _trying_ to put space between him and Elena. He has a better perspective on things when he's not being constantly reminded about her. Hopefully the same will work for Elena," Addie suggested, not believing it would.

"Realistically, Addie, how much longer can you go on not knowing how Damon truly feels about Elena? How long can you deal with this sire bond?" asked Stefan, his voice sounding more somber and sober.

She exhaled heavily as her fingers ran through her hair. With a dry humor she quipped, "I suppose 'however long it takes to break the bond' isn't a realistic?"

"You know it's not. The unknown, the doubt, the questions - it's heartbreaking. You're strong, as is your love for Damon, but you're not invincible," he pointed out gently.

Addie bit her lip. She couldn't explain to Stefan that she couldn't leave Damon because she needed him.

"Theoretically," she said, carefully mulling over her words, "I would like to believe that I can go on as long as Damon fights whatever feelings he has for Elena. But, you're right. It's heartbreaking not knowing how he truly feels and it hurts to see him struggle."

"Exactly. I can't go eternity not knowing how Elena truly feels about my brother. I will go insane. We need to find the cure."

Addie shook her head emphatically. "There is no 'we', Stefan. You guys find the cure. My job is to keep Klaus and Damon from killing each other, attempt to keep Damon and Elena from doing something that will result in me killing one of them, and helping Damon break his end of the sire bond. I feel guilty for my sister turning into a vampire but I have to set some boundaries on the crazy supernatural shit I'll get into. It's driving me insane."

"Fair enough," Stefan nodded. "You should know though, there's a race for this cure. Rebekah pointed it out today. Whoever finds it first gets to decide what to do with it."

"As long as it's used to cure Elena, I don't really care who gets it first," Addie snapped. As an afterthought she added more politely, "Is there any reason for me to be concerned?"

"Damon's got Jeremy. Klaus has the sword. Shane has Bonnie. And I, well, I don't really have anything at the moment. I don't think there is a doubt that any of us will give the cure to Elena."

"But?" Addie prodded, knowing he had brought up the issue for some reason.

"Kol will stop anyone who tries to find the cure. He's terrified about Silas rising. It makes some sense as Shane seems to have a shady agenda. He organized the death of the council as a sacrifice in Silas name where twelve people died. Klaus killed twelve hybrids. Channeling the energy from mass death is used in witchcraft to perform dark spells. I learned a long time ago that there's no such thing a coincidences in Mystic Falls," Stefan informed her grimly.

Addie was about to ask whee Stefan had learned all of that information when her phone began to ring. Seeing it was Damon, she rejected the call. If it was important he would call back, which he did.

"Take it," Stefan nodded, moving to the otherside of the room to give a semblance of privacy. Addie didn't doubt that he could still hear the conversation.

"Please tell me you haven't headed back yet," Damon said immediately, a frantic element in his voice.

The corners of Addie's lips twisted into a frown as she demanded, "What did you do?"

Damon snorted bitterly, "A shit ton of things that are going to piss you off. I need to make sure that you're, though. Which means I need you to stay in Mystic Falls tonight."

"Why?" she snapped, her throat tightening with fear. She'd been gone for less than eight hours. How had he managed to do _a shit ton_ of things to make her mad?

"Klaus has compelled a whole bar of brand new vampires to kill your brother. If you're here, I'm going to be far more concerned making sure you don't get killed than worrying about him," he admitted unapologetically.

Addie jumped to her feet as she demanded, "How could you let that happen?"

Damon gritted his teeth. He didn't have time to make Addie see that he had done it to protect her from Klaus. She would simply argue he had made the wrong choice. "I'm not going to debate this with you right now. I just needed to make sure you stay safe. And….." The three words got stuck in his throat. He didn't deserve to say them after how he had betrayed her.

"What?" she snapped impatiently, her foot tapping on the floor.

His voice was softer yt somehow more intense as he said, "I needed to hear your voice. I needed you to know that whatever I may have done or might do, I love you, Ads."

Addie pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. "You talked to Elena."

It wasn't a question.

"Yes. I need to talk to her in person. I asked her to come out here," Damon confessed.

Addie let out a dry bark of laughter and cried, "Bring her out there and keeping me away? That is the exact opposite of trying to break the sire bond!"

" _I'm trying to keep you safe_ ," Damon hissed. "If I could have you out here while I talked to her I would."

"So it's safe for her to be out there but not me?" she challenged.

"In my defense, there wasn't a bar full of compelled vampires trying to kill your brother when I asked her out her. Truthfully, he sucks and I could use a little help defending him. Elena's had much of the same training as you but is obviously more capable of handling herself because she's a vampire," he argued reasonably.

She crossed her arms and huffed, "In other words, she's less of a liability."

Damon didn't answer.

"I _so_ can't deal with this right now," she groaned to herself. Her voice dropped dangerously as sh refocused her attention on Damon, "If Jeremy or Elena get hurt, I will personally make sure you suffer a similar fate for putting them in danger. If you manage to die, you can be sure that I will die just so I can come and make sure your afterlife is a living hell. Do I make myself clear?"

"Keep everyone safe or suffer your wrath. Got it. I really have to go, Ads."

"Damon?" Addie said before he could hang up. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"Yeah?" His attention already sounded distracted and distant.

"I'm the one who has always loved you and has only ever been in love with you. You've always been my first choice. I didn't need some sire bond to make me see what I was missing out on," she reminded him, unable to hide her desperation.

"I know, my Ads."

The line went dead and Addie tossed the phone on the couch in frustration. Addie sunk to the floor, resting her head on her knees.

"You ever think we deserve better than them?" Stefan asked as he sat next to her.

Addie shrugged, not wanting to talk, rather than not having an answer. She always knew Stefan deserved better than Elena. And she figured she and Damon tended to deserve each other. Most people only saw the bad in Damon but he was a hell of a protector and fierce lover. They tended to forget the crap she put him through. If anything, Damon deserved better. But Elena was definitely not better for him.

"Stay here tonight?" he pleaded, gently rubbing her back. "I know you want to protect your family but Damon nor Elena nor Klaus would actually let Jeremy get killed. Damon was right in that he can protect them better if he's not worried about you."

"Fine," Addie sniffled. She wiped her tears on her knees.

"Stop thinking about them together. You're just going to stress yourself out."

"How are you not?" she wondered.

Stefan shrugged and tried to explain, "Elena already ripped my heart out with her words today. There's nothing worse she can do to me."

"They could sleep together," Addie pointed out bitterly.

"Yeah but I've already lost Elena so that would just leave me with Damon to be mad with. He could sleep with her with no feelings attached or because he loves her. Either way, I can't hate him more than I already do for this sire bond."

"Ah, well, I haven't lost Damon in my mind so I get to stress over the idea that something is going to happen between them," Addie countered, burying her hands in her hair.

"Addie, do you _want_ to sulk and stress and brood about this?" Stefan asked, eyeing her critically.

Haughtily she answered, "I think I have every right to."

"You do," he assured her. "I just didn't want to try to force you out of your misery or distract you from it if you needed to live in it to accept it."

Addie shifted her head slightly so she could peer at him out of the corner of one eye and observed, "Damon's always trying to make it better or distract me."

Stefan shook his head. "My brother lives by an avoidance philosophy. I've experienced enough pain and grief in my life to know that sometimes you have to be still and accept it."

"I think I just need to accept this, for now. Thank you."

"No problem," Stefan grimaced, giving her a one-armed hugged. In her ear he whispered, "Truthfully, I'd be more pissed at Damon for hurting you and messing up the best thing that ever happened to him than for sleeping with Elena."

"You're a good brother," Addie chuckled.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time he slept with my girlfriend," Stefan chuckled dryly.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you guys so much for your reviews! They truly make my day. I'm really excited about the Damon and Addie moments coming up in the next chapter or so.**


	13. Chapter 13

Stefan awoke to the sound of the refrigerator door suctioning open. He glanced from his pallet on the floor to the mass of blankets and pillows on the couch, already knowing Addie wouldn't be there. He had suggested they spend the night in the library, as much to make sure she didn't run off to the lake house as to give himself company. The more focused he was on Addie, the less he dwelt on the pain in his chest.

The chilled bag of blood weighed heavily in Addie's hand. Theoretically, Damon would have consumed the last one at the cabin last night. He'd need one for breakfast, which she had already packed in an insulated bag. He'd need more if he'd been injured. But if he hadn't been injured, extra bags would give the impression she was OK with him staying out there to train Jeremy. She definitely wasn't OK with that after Klaus compelled a bar of vampires to kill her brother. She placed two more blood bags in the lunch bag and decided it would be enough. Elena would need breakfast, too.

"You are _not_ going up there," Stefan groaned, resting his hip on the island counter and crossing his arms disapprovingly.

"No one's answering their phones. I need to make sure everyone is after a brawl with a bunch of vampire newbies," Addie responded after her initial jump of surprise.

He frowned in disbelief. "Did you try Klaus?"

She licked her lips uncomfortably and turned around to close the refrigerator door. Of course she hadn't. He would have answered her call. And he probably would have found someone to suggest she have his demon-spawn into the conversation.

"You're being nosy. You know Klaus would have called you in a rage if anything went wrong."

"No," Addie corrected, holding up an instructive finger. "He would have called in a rage if Elena or Jeremy were _killed_. We don't know something's not _wrong_."

Stefan snorted, "Elena and Damon are both magically healing vampires who have the ability to heal Jeremy. You just want to know what happened between them."

"No," she drawled out unconvincingly. "I want to make sure Damon doesn't make any more stupid decisions that put my family at risk."

In a sing-song voice Stefan muttered, "Delusional."

"No," Addie drawled out slowly for emphasis, shaking her finger. "Damon's lost his damn mind. I was too upset to see it last night, but I do now. You overheard his call; we both missed it."

Stefan groaned in annoyance and looked up at ceiling, as if it held the answer to all his problems. He didn't want to engage in this conversation but he knew once Addie got started, she wouldn't stop. "You know this whole Elena/Damon drama is _so_ much easier to deal with when you just don't care?"

"Oh, yeah. I imagine it would be," she nodded in agreement. "However, I'll stop caring as soon as you get over the fact that Elena broke your heart."

He shrugged his shoulders and replied coolly, "I'm over it."

Addie didn't need to sense a vibe to know he was lying; however, darkness emanated from him in waves as he said this. He was crushed, but he clearly didn't want to discuss it and neither did she.

Addie waved her hand in the air, as if to clear his bad vibes and the gloomy topic. Her mind went back into overdrive as she explained, " Damon called me last night and told me to stay in town because I was a liability. He invited Elena out to talk _and_ it was a happy coincidence that she was better suited to fight vampires because she was one. But, think about it. Would Damon _really_ think that?"

"I'm not following," Stefan admitted.

Her lips momentarily pursed in a slight didn't like when people's minds didn't work like hers.

"Pre-sired Damon wouldn't have allowed Elena or me to get involved in a skirmish. He would have called Elena back and told her not to come out after a bar of vampires were set on my brother. _But_ the sire bond drove him with a desire so deep to see Elena that he risked her safety."

Stefan began shaking his head as he started to see what Addie was thinking. He watched her fingers tremble as they ran through her chocolatey hair. It was still awkward to see her with brown hair again. She looked _so_ much like her sister.

"I mean, if we ever doubted the sire bond working both ways, this is solid proof. Putting Elena in danger was definitely an example of Damon not in control of himself. That wasn't _love_ ," she insisted firmly.

"I'll agree that it wasn't love, but it's not proof of the sire bond. Damon's just a dick. If he's lusting after someone, yeah, you bet he'll risk their safety," retorted Stefan.

His words burned like acid to the face. She didn't want Damon _lusting_ after Elena. The idea that his desire for her was beyond his control was much more preferable. And Damon _wasn't_ a dick, at least not anymore. Well… not in _their_ relationship. He respected Addie.

"You know," she grumbled, unpacking the lunch bag, "just because you're bitter and heart broken doesn't mean we all are." The fridge slammed shut as she declared, "You're right that I was just going up there to be nosy. Whatever happened between him and Elena last night happened. It doesn't change that I know Damon still loves me. I know he is trying to fight the _sire bond_. He's not lusting after her."

"And if they slept together?" Stefan challenged darkly.

"It'd hurt like a bitch but I'd still love both of them and fight for them. Love isn't giving up on someone because they break your heart, Stefan. If you are the man I think you are, you know that because you really loved Elena and you haven't given up," Addie said, her voice soft but insistent.

* * *

Some might have considered it cheating to listen to an audiobook when the assignment had been to read _Pride and Prejudice_ , but Addie didn't particularly care. She had wanted to do absolutely nothing but lay on her couch but felt that would have been a waste of valuable time. Instead, she had compromised with herself and allowed her body to do absolutely nothing but sit in the back corner of the Grill while her mind processed the book. Half of the battle with her depression was tricking her body into believing it wasn't depressed. At least she wasn't thinking about anything complicated, though. Yet, it sucked that the book was a romance novel. If she looked at it too hard, the bitter treatment of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth towards each other at the beginning of the story reminder her too much of herself and Damon. Damon definitely had the pride of Darcy. Addie had been prejudice against him for being a vampire. Her sister had even end up with Darcy's equivalent of a brother. The book was far too much of an annoying parrell; though, she assumed it would have a happy ending, unlike her actual life.

A spare pair of headphones blasted the audio to drown out her thoughts. It was too confusing to figure out what the right thing to do was and Addie couldn't stand thinking about it anymore. Stefan was right that she had initially wanted to go up to the cabin because she was nosy about what had happened between Damon and Elena. Yet, she decided not to because being petty and jealous was something she refused to do. However, the instant she got home, it clicked just how critical it was that Damon and Elena were _not_ in control of themselves. If they were too lost in each other, that would put Jeremy at risk. Surely the sire bond wasn't stronger than Elena's love for Jeremy, though, right? No matter what Damon said, Elena would put her brother's safety first. And Damon truly would have been more concerned about protecting Addie than Jeremy if she had been there; that wasn't a lie. His thinking wasn't _that_ compromised. Jeremy was safe with them, right?

Or he wasn't because they truly had no idea how strong the sire bond really was.

Addie turned the book up louder. She couldn't stand letting her mind go down that path again. Jeremy had eventually texted that they hadn't killed the vampires last night but they had everything under control. Jeremy said he felt confident about the situation and she didn't need to come up there. Addie would just have to trust her brother's judgment; he was the sanest one.

She sipped at a coffee to help stay awake. She was a couple of hours into the book when the audio was replaced with an incessant ringing. _Klaus_ flashed on her phone's screen.

Addie growled in frustration as she accepted the call and instantly demanded, "Is there any reason I shouldn't let Damon figure out a way to kill you since you decided to sic a bar of newbie vamps on my brother?"

"Your boy-toy agreed to the plan when I pointed out that I had the ability to force you to cooperate with me. Speaking of Damon, what would you trade me for his safety?" Klaus replied in a cool, mocking tone. "Your sister is here and believes she is in a position to make deals; but, really, everyone is fighting to find the cure for her. I have no need to invest my time in her. I'm far more interested in you."

A slow throb started behind her eyes as Addie tried to work out what had happened. Damon had _agreed_ to let Jeremy fight a bar of vampires? No wonder he had told her during the call he had done a shit ton of things that were going to make her mad. He hadn't tried to fight the sire bond when inviting Elena. He had put both her siblings in danger. He was willing to let her brother slaughter innocent people, er, vampires. And he had put her well being above Jeremy's, which he had no right to do, especially when she and Elena had _trusted_ him to take care of Jeremy.

Livid didn't even begin to touch what she was feeling towards Damon.

Addie snorted humorlessly, "You're asking at the wrong time. I'm not particularly inclined to bargain for Damon, right now. I'm quite upset with him."

"Shame," Klaus replied, clicking his tongue in disappointment. Taunting her, he continued, "Then I suppose you don't care that my diabolical brother has him hostage."

The coffee cup rattled as Addie's forehead landed on the table with a bang. "I don't suppose you're referring to Elijah?" she grumbled, knowing he wasn't.

"No," Klaus drawled with obvious enjoyment. "I mean the one who has already tried to murder a professor intent on getting the cure; has a penchant for murder; and has a general disdain for Damon and would love to murder him."

A strand of hair twisted around a fretful finger as she wonder, "What about Jeremy?"

"According to Elena, Damon and Jeremy went back to the bar to dispatch of the vampires from last night. Kol had already slaughtered all the vampires. Jeremy got away, despite Kol's threat to rip his arms off, but he captured Damon," Klaus informed her casually.

Addie let go of a breath she hadn't realize she had been holding as relief flooded her; Jeremy was safe.

She shook her head as she saw the flaw in whatever deal was made. Kol's fear of raising Silas was greater than his fear of Klaus. Klaus didn't have the power to control his brother. A dagger was nothing compared to the end of the world.

"I'm not going to bargain with you for Damon," Addie decided, the words acidic in her mouth. It was hard to face that Klaus had not ability to control his brother; any deal she made with him would just be screwing herself.

Klaus responded with a long, shocked silence before eventually responding in a slow disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"Your brother tried to kill Professor Shane to stop him from getting to the cure. He wanted to rip off my brother's arms. He's not going to listen to you if you tell him to release Damon. Damon's not hiding the fact that he's after the cure. Your brother is sabotaging _your_ plans. Nobody with any sense does that for no reason. Kol is afraid of something bigger and badder than you," Addie explained, a finger running along her lip as she thought aloud.

"There is nothing bigger and badder than me," Klaus snarled back menacingly. He didn't like being rejected. "Kol was told one too many scary stories about Silas. I can keep him in line."

The corners of Addie's lips twitched; she always seemed to attract the narcissists and she wasn't above using it to her advantage. "Prove it," she challenged. "Make Kol leave Jeremy and Damon and everyone else searching for the cure alone."

"Fine. I will! I'll call him right now."

Addie rolled her eyes. She had completely flipped the conversation on him. He'd wanted something from her in exchange for his help but he'd given his idea of help for free.

Addie gave a hum of approval before adding, "Just because I'm not convinced that you're brother is going to listen to you, where is he holding Damon?"

Klaus snorted derisively, "Please, Addison. I'm not stupid. He's making every attempt to foil my plans with your sister. Do you think I'm going to risk him killing you, too, just to spite me? Too-da-loo."

"Wait!" she exclaimed before he could hang up. "Is everyone aware of what your intentions are with me?"

"No. As I've learned from the doppelganger escapades, the more people who are aware of your plans, the more who try to ruin them. As you and Damon are so easy to manipulate, you're both obviously aware. Elena is aware to the extent that she has overheard this conversation. Elijah, aka Mr. Morality, likely has some awareness but nobody's exactly sure where he is and if he does cause a problem, I have a dagger for him." Klaus paused to consider if there was anyone else who knew he wanted to use Addie to breed a better, stronger army of true-born hybrids. "And I suppose anyone you have blabbed to."

"Don't worry," she quipped back bitterly, "being the star of your nefarious plan isn't exactly a shining moment for me. I don't plan on bragging about it." Before ending the call she challenged with a sense of finality, "Go prove you can control Kol."

Addie's teeth ground together as she texted her brother for the location of where he had left Damon and Kol. Kol was even more psychotic than Klaus; he would certainly kill Damon for the fun of it. While she had absolutely no idea how she was going to overpower Kol, Addie couldn't leave his fate to the whim of the craziest Original. Her hand pulled at her hair in frustration as she waited for her brother to respond. This was the kind of supernatural crap that she didn't want to be involved in. Addie didn't want to be responsible for saving someone's life, especially when she had no clue how to do it. She had never gone head to head with Kol. Damon had the White Oak Stake but it wasn't exactly like she could just call him up and ask him where he had put it. Maybe Stefan knew where it was. Addie sent a text message to him asking if he did. She doubted she would be strong enough and swift enough to get it into Kol but perhaps her and Jeremy together would be. That wasn't an option, though. Neither was Elena. Stefan was on the outs with Damon due to Elena professing her love for him but he'd probably still save his brother's life if it came down to it.

Addie drained the last of her coffee as her thoughts continued to race. This world made no sense. Couldn't a girl just read, or _listen_ , to her book in peace? Was that too much to ask? Every day had to be some new kind of catastrophe.

Her heart leaped as Damon's individualized ringtone played through her headphones. Answering the phone, she felt out of breath as she choked out, "Damon?"

"Hey, Ads." He sounded tired and slightly distracted.

"What's going on? I thought Kol had you captured," Addie demanded suspiciously. She highly doubted that Kol had listened to Klaus that quickly… or at all.

"Yeah, well, he gave me a pretty solid beating and knocked me out, I guess," Damon provided. Addie could hear the start of an engine in the background. "When I came to, he wasn't around."

Addie hummed thoughtfully as she texted Jeremy that she no longer needed the location of the bar and demanded that he explain what had happened since she had left the lake house. He immediately texted back that he would meet her at the Grill to discuss it in a bit.

"Have you heard from your brother? I need to apologize to him."

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. It wasn't odd that he would want to make sure Jeremy was ok after a run in with Kol but the only person Damon ever apologized to was her. Slowly she asked, "What do you mean?"

"I was pretty tough on him today," Damon replied flippantly.

She scoffed in disgust, "So, it has nothing to do with the fact that you agreed to let him kill a bar full of innocent vampires knowing he wasn't ready?"

"Nope," he answered certainly. "Your sister already gave me the lecture on why that was wrong, something about the cure not being worth innocent people or risking Jeremy. Obviously, I wouldn't let your brother get killed but I was more concerned about Klaus threatening you than a few people dying."

He sounded more emotional about the idea of Klaus threatening her than his need to apologize to Jeremy.

Addie let out a loud sigh as she pushed her fingers through her hair. They were going to have such an argument when she finally saw him. "I mean, killing innocent people is something you never really had qualms about bu-"

"I've been _trying_ to be better about," he protested.

"Yes, but only because I don't approve of it. You still don't really have a moral issue with it," she hissed back in frustration. With a sigh of disappointment she asked, "You really don't believe you put Jeremy at risk, do you?"

"I wouldn't have allowed him to get hurt, Ads."

"What if the choice came down to saving Jeremy's life over Elena's? You had both of them there. Can you honestly say that Elena wasn't a distraction to you protecting Jeremy?" she challenged.

Addie knew she had Damon beat when he didn't answer right away. Eventually he replied, "I guess I should apologize to him for that, too. Have you heard from him?"

"He's gonna meet up with me at the Grill." Addie bit her lip anxiously, still disconcerted that Damon was going to apologize. It also didn't add up that Kol had just let him go with a beating. "How are you feeling?" she wondered aloud.

"I got my ass kicked by a pint sized psycho, who happened to destroy Klaus' plan to grow your brothers mark, thus delaying my progress to the Cure and aggravating Klaus, which put you in danger. How do you think I feel?" he ranted in a single breath.

"Understandably frustrated."

"That's an understatement."

Addie looked down at her phone as the rattle of Damon's engine suddenly cut off after he spoke. The screen flashed that the call had ended. He had hung up on her.

Under her breath she mumbled in disbelief, "Seriously?"

She had been about to turn her audiobook back on when Stefan called and demanded, "Why do you need the White Oak Stake?"

"I mean, can you use it for anything other than killing an Original?" countered Addie.

"Fair enough. _Who_ are you planning on killing? We know it doesn't work on Klaus."

"It was a contingency plan. Kol intervened in Klaus' and Damon's attempt to grow Jeremy's mark."

"Ahh," Stefan said in understanding, "because he's terrified of Silas, so he's going to try and stop any of us from getting the cure."

"Right, but since we need a Hunter to find the cure, the most logical thing to do would be to kill Jeremy," Addie reasoned aloud.

"Then he would be afflicted with the Hunter's curse. He's not stupid enough to do that," decided Stefan.

Her fingers rapped on the table in an unsteady pattern. "I don't know. He might not be afraid of that. He wouldn't be able to kill himself. Would the curse be that terrible for a few decades if it didn't mean the end of the world? It depends on how much he fears this Silas guy."

"I don't know but I got a feeling Kol's gonna be a problem," admitted Stefan, suddenly sounding rushed. "I can't talk about this anymore right now. I know where the thing is if we need it. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Addie said into the other end of the phone, realizing he had already hung up. She was getting a little annoyed with being hung up on.

Addie toyed with the cord of her headphone as she stared at her empty mug. The thanks she gave Matt when he refilled her cup was automatic.

If Kol really wanted to stop them _and_ didn't want to deal with the Hunter's Curse, all he had to do was compel any random person to kill Jeremy. Though, if he compelled a vampire and Jeremy actually succeeded in killing the vampire, that would only further Klaus' agenda, not Kol's. He could compel a human to kill Jeremy without the slight risk of growing Jeremy's mark. Could a human contract the Hunter's Curse? Was Kol even as analytical as she was giving him credit?

 _Why_ had Kol let Damon go with just a beating? Or had he? Damon had been acting a bit odd. Had Kol compelled _Damon_ to kill Jeremy? Surely not. Damon would have mentioned that.

* * *

Addie stared at her brother with a bit of disgust as she watched him wolf down a triple meat burger and two large orders of cheese fries. She wasn't sure if that was a typical teenage boy thing or a Hunter thing.

"I'm just really confused. When I left yesterday, I had just kicked your ass. Next thing I know, I get a call saying Klaus has compelled a bar of new vampires to kill you. I'm not quite sure how that happened or how the hell Damon expected you to defend yourself!"

"Let me catch you up on that," Jeremy said with a false brightness, his words slightly muffled by his stuffed mouth. "Klaus turned the pizza girl into a vampire and compelled her to attack me. Damon saw me kill her and I told him the mark grew, he decided with Klaus, that it would be a good idea for me to kill innocent people!"

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Wait. _Whose_ plan was it?"

Jeremy set his burger down and looked at his sister seriously. "Addison May, you cannot tell me that it matters who came up with the bad idea! _Damon agreed to it!_ "

"But isn't it just slightly," she held her thumb and index finger apart marginally, "less awful if he only agreed to it instead of coming up with it?"

The stern scowl of disapproval was the only answer he gave her.

At his sister's look of disappointment Jeremy clarified, "It wasn't Damon's idea to compel the vampires to kill. I refused to kill them because Damon had said I wouldn't have to kill any innocent people. Klaus used the compulsion as _incentive_ for me to kill them. That's when we went back to the house because we knew I couldn't take on nearly 20 new vampires in the dark."

Addie tried to sound casual as she asked, "Where does Elena fit into all of this?"

"She was at the lakehouse when we got back. She was _so_ angry at Damon when she found out what was going on, like you would expect. But…." Jeremy's face fell as he wiped his hands on his napkin and placed them in his lap.

Cautiously Addie asked, "Jer, what happened?"

"This morning, Elena was dead set on not leaving me alone with Damon. But then he told her to trust him and that he would keep me safe and she just…"

"What?" prodded Addie.

"She agreed with him and left me with him!" Jeremy huffed, though Addie could tell he was using anger to cover up his pain.

Addie's face scrunched up as she thought hard, not wanting to offend her brother but still desperate to understand the situation.

"Just ask," sighed Jeremy, knowing his sister's look of confusion.

"Are you upset because she agreed with Damon or are you upset because she left you with him?"

"Both." His demeanor quickly changed as he saw the guilt settle on Addie's face. "Hey," he said, gently kicking her under the table so she would look at him. "I'm not mad at you for leaving me with Damon yesterday. You had no reason to believe I wouldn't be safe with Damon."

"Yeah but I didn't come out there last night or this morning, knowing what was happening," Addie mumbled shamefully, intent on tracing a pattern on the table.

"Addie, _you_ didn't know Damon agreed to pit me against a bunch of new vampires. Elena _knew_ Damon had been in on the plan. There's a huge fundamental difference. You didn't know he was putting me in danger, but Elena did. Elena shouldn't have trusted him!" Jeremy exclaimed, drawing attention from the couple sitting a few tables away.

"I know," Addie soothed in a low voice, hoping her brother would mirror her volume. "Damon and Elena aren't thinking straight because of this sire bond thing. Before this sire bond, Damon never would have put you or Elena in danger simply because the slightest chance of you guys getting hurt is painful to me. And the sire bond is why Elena left you with Damon. The old Elena never would have left you alone with Damon after what happened last night. She would have rightfully viewed him as reckless and irresponsible."

There was an unfocused gleam in Jeremy's brown eyes as he asked, "So, you don't trust Damon either?"

She let out an exaggerated sigh and ran her hand through her hair as she stalled. That was not a question or a _look_ she would expect from Jeremy. It was something she expected from a Hunter. She wasn't even sure how the topic jumped to trusting Damon.

The tip of a stake could be seen just below the cuff of his long-sleeve shirt. Jeremy was wearing the pressure launching stake cuffs Alaric had invented. Was his Hunter-mode in overdrive?

"Damon sounded off when I talked to him on the phone after Kol let him go. His actions last night were reprehensible," Addie said slowly, carefully choosing her words as to not upset Jeremy but not to betray Damon. "At this exact moment, I doubt that he is thinking clearly, which makes it hard to trust him."

Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest, studying his empty plate. He was quiet for several minutes before explaining, "Addie, whatever this Hunter thing inside me is, it's been in overdrive since I killed that pizza girl."

"What about Elena?" she asked slowly, concern for her sister growing. "Are you going to hurt her?"

He quickly shook his head. "No, no. Bonnie still works as my anchor for all my negative feelings. I know what I have to do to get the cure for Elena, but ever since I killed that vampire, whatever drives my Hunter instincts has been on overdrive."

Addie rested her head in her palm as she studied her brother. Softly she asked "Can I see how much it grew?"

Jeremy pushed the cuff of his sleeve past his elbow and laid his arm on the table, palm down. It look like the start of vines extended just past the bend of his wrist.

"It barely grew at all," she uttered in despair.

"And we have no idea how big it gets."

Her lips pressed into a thin, worried line; Klaus had a rough idea of how the mark was supposed to look but she didn't want to propose going to him. Love was powerful, but if one kill was already making Jeremy this edgy, completing the mark would consume him even worse than it had Connor Jordan.

"Well," Addie mumbled with reluctance, raking her fingers through her hair. "In your completion of it, please try not to kill Elena, Stefan, Caroline, Tyler or Damon."

"I get why you say that. There's two thought processes going through my head. In one, I know I trust Damon. In the other, I don't even really trust Elena," Jeremy confessed, his cheeks flooding with shame.

"Speaking of Damon," Addie whispered, noticing him walk in through the door, "he said he wanted to apologize to you, but I'm not convinced I about that."

"I sure as hell not," Jeremy spat as he stood up. " if I deal with him right now, I can't guarantee I won't try to kill him."

"Then you better get out of here," suggested Addie, leaving enough money on the table to cover the tab. "He's by the door."

Jeremy muttered just lough enough for her to hear, "I'll take the tunnels to the Lockwood cellar. Keep him distracted."

* * *

His pupils were dilated to catch every sign of movement as he walked into the overcrowded Mystic Grill. There were more people here than usual for a weekday evening, perhaps because schools were out on holiday break. All the chatter and the scents made it hard for Damon to pick out who he was looking for but he could find her like a beacon in the dark, always calling him home. The scent of her blood called to him. The way she moved commanded all of his focus. He could feel the warmth of life radiate through him as her hand rested on his leather clad bicep.

"Damon!" Addie repeated for the third time before his eyes finally focused on her.

"Ads," Damon murmured distractedly. There was something different about her but her deep blue eyes felt like home. He couldn't focus long enough to figure out what was different about her. His eyes kept wanting to drift from hers to look for Jeremy.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the side so he wasn't blocking the entry. Sharply Addie demanded, "What is wrong with you?"

Lines formed between Damon's eyebrow as he tried to fight through his thoughts. It was like trying to himself out of quicksand. "I-I-I _want_ to talk to you but… but I _smell_ Jeremy," he explained haltingly.

"You just missed him; he just left," Addie replied, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Dark veins appears under Damon's eyes his eyes scanned the room again, finally focusing on the door that led to the back.

"Damon!" she snapped again, placing her hand on his face and dragging his head until his eyes met hers. In a quiet voice she demanded, "What is going on? Your vampire face was starting."

Damon ran his tongue over teeth as he waded through his murky thoughts again. He was surprised to note that his fangs were extended.

"Kol," he spat in discuss. "He didn't just beat me up. He must have compelled me to kill Jeremy," realized Damon.

"Well, that's not going to happen," Addie scoffed, keeping a firm grasp on Damon's wrist as he start to walk towards the back of the restaurant.

Addie tried to plant her feet and keep Damon from moving but it was pointless, He was too strong; he pulled her along with him as if she weighed nothing. A cold dread spread through her as he pushed open the door of the supply room. The entrance to the tunnels was in that room. Thankfully, Jeremy wasn't in the room but the grate that covered the entrance was out of place.

"You are not going to kill my brother!" Addie exclaimed now that they were alone.

Damon turned and looked at her incredulously. "Addie, I love you and I would never want to hurt you but I am _compelled_ ," he stressed, speaking as though he was explaining a very complicated concept to a simple-minded child. "I'm not St. Stefan; I can't fight it like he did for Elena. And even he eventually caved."

"You are not going to kill my brother," Addie repeated, a little more calmer now that she had Damon's attention.

"There's only two ways to break this compulsion: kill Jeremy or kill me," Damon declared decisively.

Addie's gaze wandered around the room as she considered another possible option. Realizing the solution, she went to train her eyes back on Damon but he was gone.

"Damn vampire speed!" she swore aloud.

* * *

The ground blurred beneath Addie as she felt a surge of adrenaline pushing her harder and faster. The steady thump of her footsteps echoed in her ears. Beads of sweat roll down her face despite the chill of December. She was moving so fast that the uneven ground was hazardous. There was no doubt she had never run faster. She had to find Jeremy before Damon. She had called on Stefan and Elena for help but she knew she was the closest.

She heard the snap of a tree branch that did not come from beneath her. Her pace lessened ever so slightly as she called out for her brother. A muffled groan came from off to her left. She changed her angle and moved even faster.

Spying her brother slumped at the base of a tree, Addie slid to her knees, ripping a hole in her jeans and tearing her skin.

"What happened?" she panted, her stomach churning at his cradled, bloody arm.

"Damon bit me," Jeremy growled out throw gritted teeth. He was pale and clammy; it was obvious his strength was waning. "I tried to fight him in the cellars."

A shudder of anger went through Addie, not at Damon but at the situation. She took off her plaid over-shirt and began wrapping it tightly around Jeremy's arm to staunch the bleeding. As she did this she asked, "How did you get away?"

"Head-shot," he said, with a pain attempt at a grin as he held up a gun in his uninjured hand.

"Head-shots work on zombies, not vampires," she teased, attempting to lighten the mood. "That will slow him down but not stop him," Addie mused, taking the gun from him to make sure it was loaded and ready to fire. She knew she would have to be the one to use it. It had too much recoil for Jeremy to get a clean shot off with only one hand.

She recalled the night Damon first taught her how to shoot. She doubted her had ever imagined she would have to shoot at him.

 _ **Flashback**_

" _I don't want to be a part of anything that involves inflicting pain on you, no matter how brief it may be," Addie declared, not budging on her refusal to shoot at him._

 _He nodded slowly. "Ok, I get that but I don't want you ever getting hurt so that means you learn how to defend yourself, and this is part of that. You can shoot at trees all day, but you're most likely going to need to defend yourself from something that moves."_

 _"I'm not shooting you."_

 _"Such as shame. Guess I'm not shooting you tonight, either," he said very suggestively._

 _"Seriously? You think I'm going to change my mind because you're going to withhold physical contact? I think you might be using compulsion a little too much; your natural manipulation skills need some brushing up on. I'm not shooting you," Addie repeated for the fifth time._

 _She had set the gun on the stump where the extra ammo rested and had turned back to camp when Damon suddenly appeared inches from her, the gun pointed at his chest. Quietly he said, "You shoot at me or I shoot me."_

 _"That's not funny, Damon," scowled Addie, glaring at the black machine._

 _"I'm not joking."_

 _Addie's hand twitched, desperate to move the gun away from him but afraid of startling him and making him accidentally pull the trigger. Slowly she stated the obvious fact, "That's a wooden bullet aimed at your_

heart _. You would -"_

 _"Die?" he finished for her, his eyes wide with shock. He glanced down at the gun; maybe the center of his chest hadn't exactly been the best place to point. The dark thought explained why she had gone so pale and grim, though. "I wouldn't do that! Besides, I'm pointing too far to my right to directly hit my heart. I'll shoot… mmm… I'll do a suffer shot to the gut if you don't shoot at me."_

 _"You're mental."_

 _"So are you. Now, you can either shoot at me and have a 99.99999% guarantee I won't get hurt or I can just shoot myself and there will be a 100% chance that I will get hurt…. I recall you saying something about not wanting apart in anything that hurt me," he reasoned out smugly._

 _Addie snatched the gun away from him and sneered, "I'm half tempted to argue that my lack of action would in and of itself mean me not being involved in you getting shot. You'd just be getting shot because you're an idiotic dick."_

 _"Yes but you're only half tempted to argue that," he'd grinned from back by the tree. "The second you see me move, fire."_

 _"How am I supposed to do that if I can't see you move when you flash about? That's precisely why I don't like it!"_

 _"I'll start slower. You know, we could have been done with this a long time ago if you would just stop arguing with me about it."_

 _"Fine," she said reluctantly as she had aimed the gun at him._

 _ **Present**_

Her eyes stung with unshed tears. That time Damon had dodged the bullet. If he dodged it this time, he would likely kill Jeremy.

"Do you think you can make it back to my car?" she asked desperately, already knowing the answer. "It's just on the side of the road, maybe half a mile out."

His eyelids were closed as Jeremy barely moved his head from side to side and admitted in defeat, "Not before he catches up to us. Addie, he said Kol compelled him to kill me."

"I know, but I'm not going to let that happen," Addie reassured her older brother, ruffling his sweat drenched hair before standing protectively in front of him.

The woods were cold and silent. The light layer of sweat made her shiver in the frosty air. She'd absentmindedly left her jacket at the Grill. Her eyes darted around for any sign of movement as her ears strained for the slightest sound. She raised the gun and placed her finger on the trigger. Her jaw was clenched so tight that her teeth hurt.

Leaves crunched over the hill in the northwest. Addie aimed in that direction. She would not let Damon hurt her brother.

Addie's heart skipped with a mixture of relief and surprise when it was Elena she first heard.

"Damon, stop! Please, Damon!"

A moment later, Addie could make out Damon's long strides as he made his way down the ridge and towards them. Elena hustled behind him, grabbing the back of his jacket to get his attention. They stopped just close enough for Addie to make out what they were saying.

"Please. I know that you don't want to hurt Jeremy so stop," pleaded Elena.

Addie could hear the struggle and anguish in Damon's voice as he croaked, "I can't."

"Yes, you can. You're strong enough to resist the compulsion. I know that you are," Elena insisted.

"Why? Because Stefan did? I'm not him! Addie accepts that. She didn't try to get me to resist!"

Elena snorted in a very Addie-like fashion, "How do you think I found you? Addie called _me_ to stop _you_. Because you love me and I love you. You'd do anything for me… so please, stop this for me."

"And I love Addie," Damon reminded her forcefully. "She knows I'd never do anything _in my control_ to hurt her. She sent _you_ because you could get to me faster. She meant for you to stop me."

"Which I'm begging you to do!"

Addie could she the slight shake of his head as Jeremy gave a soft whimper of pain. Damon's head suddenly stopped moving and he disappear. Reflexively, her eyes squeeze close as she aimed the gun directly in front of her. There was a gush of air against her face. He'd come.

"You have to shoot me, Ads. I will kill him," Damon's voice was husky and strained as he held onto a tree. He was literally holding himself back from ripping Jeremy's throat out.

Her throat was suddenly dry as Addie focused the barrel of the gun on him. The metal was heavy in her clammy hands.

"Addie, no!" cried Elena, tumbling into them.

"Ads, look at me," Damon commanded, suddenly sounding sharp and clear. Cornflower blue met sky blue as their gazes locked. Addie's eye began to water as she understood the unspoken permission he was giving. "Save your brother."

Addie felt Jeremy shift behind her. The movement drew Damon's attentions; spider-like veins spread beneath his eyes.

The world shrank to no more than what she could see at the end of the pistol; there was nothing but the weight of the weapon in her hands. She inhaled as time slowed to a crawl and the shouts of her sister were reduced to a whisper in comparison to her own rushing heartbeat in her ears. She squeezes the trigger and the gun fires with a deafening pop, the recoil sending a shudder through her arms. The wooden round tears through the air and lodges in its target. Addie watched Damon drop to his knees and pitch forward. The pistol fell to the ground with a sickening thud as Addie watched Elena flip Damon onto his back and check for signs of life.

Addie's ears still rang from the shot as the nausea clawed at her throat. She tried to force down the bile, but it was too late. Coffee and stomach acid spewed out of her coughing, choking mouth. Her face was white and dripping bile, sweat, and tears. She lurched forward and sunk to her knees. She couldn't believe she had actually shot Damon with a wooden bullet in the heart.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the long delay in the update. I'm working on the next chapter. Thank you so much to those who comment, follow, and favorite. And an even bigger than you for those who directly message me and ask when I'm going to update next. It forces me to make a commitment and get this done.**


	14. Chapter 14

Addie's hands trembled as she clutched the steering wheel as she stared up at the boarding house. After she shot Damon things had moved in such a blur. Stefan had arrived and quickly carted off Damon's body. A distraught Elena had refused to allow Addie to accompany her and Jeremy to the hospital; Jeremy assured her he would survive getting a few stitches. When she made it back to her car, time had somehow warped to make it seem like she had teleported to the boarding house.

She hadn't _killed_ Damon. At least, she didn't think she did. He hadn't started to desiccate right away. Plus, she hadn't directly aimed for his heart. She had only meant to nick his heart.

The knock on her window made her jump. Stefan stared at her expectantly from the other side. Her fingers were numb and fumbled to find the correct button to put the window down.

"You've been sitting out here for over an hour," he stated blandly. When she didn't respond he continued, "Do you plan on coming in or just sitting out here?"

Addie continued to look at the house as she timidly asked, "Aren't you mad at me?"

"No," he reassured her. "I've had to make a similar choice of saving by brother or someone else I cared about. Our siblings are the first friends we make. No matter how much we may think we hate them, it is in our instinct to always have their back."

"I can't go in. I don't deserve to go in," Addie mumbled, mostly talking to herself. "I shot him in the heart with a wooden bullet."

"To be fair, he was going to kill your brother. He kinda deserved it."

"Kol compelled him. It wasn't his fault," she replied in the same distracted, distant tone. "You're displacing your emotions because you're mad that Elena is in love with him."

Stefan shook his head insistently even though she wasn't looking at him. "No, we already discussed this. I don't care about that anymore."

"I could have _killed_ him," Addie practically yelled, pushing both hands through her hair.

Stefan reached through the window and rested his hand on her shoulder as her lower lip trembled and her nose turned red. He gave a gentle squeeze and said soothingly, "You didn't though. The bullet barely grazed his heart. It was enough to seriously take him down, but there's no permanent damage."

Two fat tears rolled down her flushed cheeks as she covered her mouth to muffle her choked sob of relief. Since the bullet had been smaller than a stake, she thought desiccation might take longer to set in.

"I hadn't been certain," she choked through her fingers.

"He's ok. You made the right call," Stefan reassured her, a slight frown on his lips.

He'd been at the edge of the woods when he'd heard the crack of the gun. It was immediately clear that the bullet had only nicked his brother's heart because he could still feel it beating, even as Damon bleed out. A direct hit would have stopped it completely. A cursory look over his brother told Stefan that he was bleeding out fast, and that gave him and idea. Though, doubting Addie and Elena would approve of it, Stefan had rushed his brother home, where he removed the bullet, but kept slicing the graze open each time it started to heel, until Damon's veins stood out against his skin in the beginning of vampire starvation. He was still compelled to kill Jeremy, and they needed to control him; they had no vervain to keep him weak. Starvation was the only option.

Though, he'd wished he'd been a little faster, so Addie didn't have to shoot Damon. Snapping his brother's neck would have knocked him out long enough to get Jeremy to safety. Seeing how distressed Addie was over shooting Damon made Stefan a little irritated with Elena for not breaking Damon's neck. She could have stopped Damon and avoided putting Addie through the trauma of potentially killing someone she loved.

When her eyes had stopped glistening he explained, "He's still compelled, Addie. I have him locked in the cellar."

Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she finally looked at Stefan instead of the house. Sarcastically she drawled, "I'm sure he's really happy about that."

He shrugged dismissively and rolled his eyes. "I don't really care how he feels about it when he wakes up.

She visibly flinched at this. Vampires healed fast; she had to have really injured him if he hadn't woken up in over an hour. The little color left in her face drained as Stefan explained his plan to keep his brother in weakened, starved mode to make him easier to control.

"Right now, he's starving but he's lost enough blood that you could overpower him if he tried to feed on you," Stefan stated. He'd conveniently left out how he kept reopening Damon's injury to further bleed him dry. "I can't keep him this weak without risking desiccation, though. Now is your only chance to see him, touch him, until we figure out how to break his compulsion."

Addie whimpered as her hands covered her face, "How am I supposed to face him? I could have killed him, Stefan!"

"Didn't he tell you to shoot him?" offered Stefan. He really didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure how his brother would respond. Addie and Damon had always had a complicated relationship.

"I don't think he actually expected me to do it," she shot back acidly.

Keeping his voice calm and rational Stefan replied, "I don't think he actually expected you to just let him kill your brother."

"I don't think I should have to have a discussion about me shooting my ex-boyfriend because he was trying to murder my brother," retorted Addie, mirroring his tone. Her hands were steadier than before when they ran through her hair again. This ridiculous nonsense was just the crazy drama the supernatural brought into her life. She didn't ask for these stupid things to happen.

"I don't think I have a counter-argument for that."

She scoffed as she waved her hand for Stefan to step away from the door, "I don't think anyone does."

"I don't think I can keep coming up with 'I don't think' statements," Stefan admitted, closing the car door for her.

"I don't think I'll ever run out of witty retorts and sarcastic comebacks," she quipped.

"I suppose that explains why you and Damon bicker so much."

"Ha!" Addie cheered, sticking her tongue out at him. "I won!"

"I didn't realize it was a competition," Stefan smiled to himself. Addie could think she won if she wanted but he'd gotten a genuine grin despite the fact that she had been in tears moments before. He knew who really won that round. Damon was the type to point that out, but he wasn't.

"Speaking of competition, why did Rebekah answer your phone when I called you for help?" she inquired suspiciously. "She was the one who compelled Elena into confessing her feelings. Why are you hanging out with her?"

"I'm not mad at Rebekah for that. Elena should have told me in the first place," he grumbled bitterly.

"I thought you didn't care," Addie taunted, making her strides longer as she noticed him moving faster.

"I don't. Rebekah has one brother set on destroying everyone trying to get the cure and one brother set on destroy everyone to get the cure. I figure she's gotta be help one way or the other," deflected Stefan as the entered the house.

"Which side is she on?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

His pain was an icy wind choking the breath from his lungs and making a noose around his neck. Its savage, bitter blasts cut right to his veins and gripped his brain in its freezing claws. His heart constricted in its wake as if not sure if it should go on beating. A strangled sound raked through his throat as his heart tried to relax. Each set of contraction and relaxation was a slow push of shards of sharp ice through his blood stream. He knew he wasn't supposed to be cold but he felt frozen. He knew each beat of his heart shouldn't make him wish for death.

But there was a heartbeat of life filling his ears. The beating was getting louder and louder as his mouth watered at the most delectable scent. Fangs extended in his mouth as he felt the cacophonous thrumming rhythm. He knew his ear was pressed against cloth but if he just turned his head, he'd snap into an artery. A delicious, lengthy feed would start to lessen whatever hell his body was in.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Stefan snaps, rushing to Addie's side and knocking her hand away from Damon's mouth.

"Shh!" she hissed as she picked up a damp cloth as resumed wiping the blood from his face and hair from Jeremy's headshot. Using the softer tone she found much more appropriate for someone's sick bed she answered, "I think he's coming around. He was starting to drool, and his fangs descended."

"About time," grumbled Stefan, resuming his spot of leaning against the wall. He'd spent the last 45 minutes fetching various things to make Damon's temporary prison cozier at Addie's request while she cleaned off his blood and anxiously cradled Damon's head in her lap as he lay on a cot.

Addie chewed at her lip anxiously as she brushed the hair of his pale forehead. He _looked_ ill but not like when he had been dying from the werewolf venom. Then he was hot and clammy. Now he was ashen and dry. If it weren't for his occasional trembles, he'd look dead. A tear rolled down her cheek and splashed onto his.

There was single spot of warmth, a comforting weight settled over his heart. It didn't ease the pain in chest and veins, but it was familiar. He'd felt that same pressure over his chest countless times. Five delicate fingertips pressed slightly harder than the palm of a small hand. The warm hand was the only sense of relief in his agonizing misery.

Pain seared through his arm as he fought to lift his own hand to his chest. Each movement felt like he was dragging a knife through the blood deprived arteries and veins. Unconsciously he bared his teeth as he snarled through the pain. After what felt like an eternity, his hand settled onto the one already on his chest. Instinctively he pulled Addie's hand closer; he would always pull his Ads closer.

"He should be awake and talking by now, shouldn't he," fretted Addie. It had been half an hour since Damon had moved his hand, but he hadn't stirred since then.

"I don't know," Stefan huffed, still leaning with his back against the wall. Looking at his brother made it a lot harder to not give a damn that Elena was in love Damon and he was growing angry. "I don't exactly have a lot of experience with vampires _surviving_ being hit in the heart with wood."

Her face instantly pale as she looked up at him, her eyes wide with horror. "You think he's going to die?"

He shook his head quickly and mentally berated himself. Addie was particularly fragile right now and wasn't helping. "No, definitely not. I could see his heart already starting to heal when I took the bullet out. It's likely taking so long because of where and what he was hit with and how much blood he loss."

Addie frowned as she traced a finger along the angular features of his face. How could she be sure he wasn't suffering? He had seemed to be in a lot of pain when he had moved his hand.

"I really which you would stop putting your fingers near his mouth," Stefan chastised as he watched her run her thumb lightly over Damon's lower lip.

"I want you to give him blood," she decided, meeting Stefan's eyes with a look of resolution. "I want to speak to him and hold him, but I have no guarantee that he's not in some form of pain. Plus, the longer he goes without blood, the weaker he is going to keep getting and the less likely he is going to wake up. I don't want him to start desiccating while we sit here waiting for something that may not happen; that would be excruciatingly painful for him."

Stefan's foot tapped on the ground rapidly as he considered what she was asking. "You understand that he will be in here until we figure out how to break his compulsion? Weakened like this is the last chance you will have to be this close to him."

"I know," she mumbled.

"The second I give him blood, it will be too dangerous for you to be here," emphasized Stefan.

" _Don't_ ," croaked a weak, gravelly voice.

"Damon," Addie started, taking on a reasonable, yet lecturing mother tone, "you are grievously injured. You were shot in the heart by a wooden bullet." Although his eyes were still closed, she noticed a flicker at the corner of his lips. Even sterner she continued, "There is nothing humorous about it. You can't hide that you are in pain. The longer you go without blood, the weaker you will get, and you will continue to suffer. I refuse to take part in that."

His chest heaved under their interlaced fingers as he labored for breath. The excruciating pain was bearable as long as he was with Addie. He didn't notice the trail of tears that ran down his face until Addie brushed them away.

"Given his current state, I think it would be safe enough to give him enough blood for him to talk without feeling like daggers and flames are attacking his throat," Stefan conceded in sympathy. As Addie had reminded him, just because he had decided to be heartless and stop caring about the Damon/Elena situation didn't mean she had. She was still very much in love with his brother.

A crease formed on her forehead as she did a quick calculation, "It would take roughly 22 muscles for him to turn his head and another at least another 55 for him to bite me and swallow my blood. I can't risk him getting strong enough to bite me; he'd go after Jeremy. I'm not losing my brother."

She loved his brother, but she loved her brother more. That was ok with Stefan, though. No one had ever showed Damon the level of love and affection that Addie did.

Stefan nodded as he pulled a stake from the waistband of his jeans. "I wouldn't risk you or Jeremy. I can give him a vial of blood. He'd need a full blood bag to even get any sense of strength back."

Addie eyed Stefan with uncertainty even as she took the stake he held out to her. She wasn't concerned about Damon hurting her; she was worried he couldn't fight the compulsion and would try to kill Jeremy again.

"Jeremy is the map to the cure. I'm not going to risk Damon hurting him," Stefan stated bluntly. Just as compassionless he continued, "It will be just enough to take the edge off the pain. There's no point in you sitting here, feeling guilty and watching him suffer. That just makes you suffer."

The sounds of his footsteps echoed in the small chamber as he left the room. Addie wouldn't point out to him that she deserved to suffer. She'd _shot_ Damon in the heart. She loved him and yet she was the reason he was in such exquisite pain.

An icy fire shot through Damon's fingers and up his arm as he exerted a little pressure against her trembling hand. His could feel her pulse increase in her thumb and heard her sniffle; she was trying not to cry. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew why but he could dig out the reason as he was acutely aware of just how close her blood was. And Addie's blood was the sweetest, most potent, addicting thing he had ever tasted. It was his personal salvation. It was his personal hell. But mostly, she was the untapped oasis available to rehydrate his starved body.

In a flash his eyes flared open as his free hand gripped the back of her head, jerking her head down until her neck hovered barely an inch above his bared teeth. Chocolate brown hair fell around his face, softly brushing his cheeks. No. Addie had dyed her hair dark red. Elena's hair was brown. But the blood. He was certain he smelled Addie's blood; each time he watched the pulse point on the long neck thump, he was hit with a fresh wave of it. This didn't make sense.

"You are _not_ going to bite me, Damon Salvatore," Addie scowled, removing her hand from over his heart and replacing it with the stake Stefan had given her. Alarmed at Damon's sudden move, she wasn't afraid. Even as he had been pulling her down, she'd found that with the slightest resistance, he wasn't a match for her. His speed had even been that of a human. He was exceptionally weak. She had let him pull her so close.

"I already shot you. Don't think I won't stake you," she warned.

Humanity battled his inner beast as Damon fought to process the words and the voice despite his bloodlust. His fingers slipped into her hair and pulled the strands under his nose. Cucumber melon. Addie. Definitely not Elena. Elena never would have had the strength to shoot him. He'd made Addie shoot at him in the past. She'd been furious at him, but he knew someday she might have to take action against him or someone else she cared about. And she'd been able to step up to the plate and do it, just like he knew she could. His fighter. His light. His love.

"My Ads," he growled out affectionately, screwing his eyes shut as the action made his throat feel like it was being raked with razor blades.

A few minutes later, Stefan groaned from the doorway as he spied Addie's head hanging limply over Damon's face. Her hair obscured his mouth from view. The only thing that told him Damon hadn't completely killed Addie was the fact that she still held the stake over his heart.

"Perhaps he doesn't need any blood," Stefan considered aloud as he peered at the small vial he held.

"He had a moment of bloodlust," Addie explained as she sat up slowly, "but it wasn't concerning. He's extremely weak. Actually, he passed out right after grabbing me. I'm not sure if it was from the pain or the exhaustion from exerting himself."

"Addie," he drew out slowly as he tilted the vial between his fingers in contemplation, "I don't want him to have another _moment of bloodlust_ and bite you. That wo-"

"That would be horrendous," she finished for him. "But it's not going to happen. I let him pull me that close. Right now, I move faster than him and I'm stronger than him. His vampire speed is turned down to a regular human's. And I'm faster than a regular human; I'm a track start," she quipped, grinning at her own logic.

Stefan frowned at her in disapproval. "This is serious."

"I know. I _shot him_. I risked killing him to save my brother. I know this is serious. I'm not taking it lightly," she asserted, holding out her hand expectantly as she blinked away the tears that threatened to fall.

He nodded and dropped the small vial in her hand. Before leaving he said, "I'll give you guys some time."

Her hands trembled slightly as Addie uncorked the vial, slightly elevated Damon's head, and tipped the contents of the tube between his lips. When the bottle was empty, she closed his mouth and tenderly rubbed at his throat, encouraging him to swallow. It hadn't even been a full mouth full. She felt the slight bob of his Adam's apple just as a tear fell from her face and dropped on his brow.

"Ads," Damon murmured. His voice was raw and husky, like in the morning, but it wasn't nearly as painful to talk as it had been. He couldn't help but grimace as there were two more splashes on his forehead. "Please don't cry."

"Don't cry?" Addie scoffed in disbelief as she sniffled. "Do you not recall I _shot you_?"

He nodded slightly, his head still in her lap. "Yep, with a wooden bullet. Right here," he grinned, taking her hand and placing it almost directly over his heart.

Angry at him, Addie wanted to pull away, but his heart was beating slightly stronger and it felt nice. Safe. Reassuring. Instead she demanded, "Why are you smiling? I could have killed you! Do you not understand that?"

Damon finally opened his eyes and instantly fixed his piercing blue gaze into hers. He cradled her face in both hands as he emphasized, "I'm smiling because I am _so damn proud_ of you."

She blinked one, two, three times before deciding, "Jeremy caused permanent brain damage when he shot you in the head."

"No," Damon chuckled briefly before turning serious again, "but that was _really_ stupid of him. I was coming to kill him and he decided to fight me in hand-to-hand combat, then shot me in the stomach. I told your brain-dead brother to shoot me in the heart and he shot me in the head. I swear, I'm not a bad teacher; he's just dumb. You shot me in the heart and I trained you!"

Addie pushed Damon's hands off of her as she studied him, her face scrunched up in confusion.

"What?" he asked, a slight crease forming between his eyebrows.

"Damon, he didn't shoot you in the heart because, despite his hunter instincts, he cares about you and didn't want to kill you. Does that not make any sense to you?"

"Caring about me almost got him killed. He needs to learn to categorize his emotions, like you were able to," he answered, flashing her a quick grin.

"You don't understand," insisted Addie, her voice trembling as much as her hand as she pushed it through her hair. "I got lucky! I'm not some sort of trained sniper. I got lucky that the bullet only nicked your heart. Damon, I could have killed you. I knew that, and I still took the shot."

Addie's voice cracked on the last word and the tears she had been fighting so hard to control ran down her face in fast flowing rivers. Damon ignored the searing pain as he struggled to sit up. His entire body felt like it was being set on fire as he propped his back against the wall, knowing he couldn't hold himself up.

"Come here, Ads," panted Damon out of breath from the exertion of moving.

Obediently she scooched back next to him, her face buried in her hands to muffle her sobs. He rested his head on top of hers as he wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders. Upset was an understandable response to shooting someone you loved but she was distraught. He took several minutes to try and think in the unique way she did.

"Shooting me, risking killing me, was traumatic," Damon understood and felt her nod at his words. His carefully picked out his next words and delivered them gently; he didn't want her to think he was mad. "But, what is even more bothersome for you is that you didn't hesitate to take the shot, right?"

The fact that she didn't answer was all the confirmation he needed.

"Ads, look at me."

She gave a loud, shuddering sob and buried her face further into her hands.

He gently tugged at her wrist until her face was unblocked and repeated, "Look at me, Addie."

She tilted her head further down to use her hair as a barrier between them.

"Addison," Damon said more firmly, though still keeping his voice gentle as he used his index finger to guide her face to his. He tried to catch her eye, but she refused to meet his gaze; there was only so much he could coerce her into doing. He palmed the back of her head and brought their foreheads together. Selfishly, he relished in the simple contact far longer than he should have.

As his thumbs brushed away the trail of tears he softly insisted, "You didn't hesitate because Jeremy and Elena are family. Your love for them is beyond anything I would expect you to have for me at this point. They are the constants in your life. Choosing between possibly killing me or me certainly killing Jeremy was a no brainer. Addie, you made the choice I wanted and expected you to make. You would eventually be ok if you killed me saving one of your siblings. You would _never_ recover from losing Jeremy or Elena knowing you could have saved them. You did the right thing."

Addie briefly met Damon's eyes. His sky-blue gaze was certain, and she detected no hint of deception from him, but he still didn't understand. She quickly looked away again in shame. Unable to face him as she admitted the truth, Addie buried her face in the crook of Damon's neck.

"I made the choice to save my brother, but I didn't make the right choice for if I truly loved you. Elena got that one right," she mumbled dejectedly.

"Elena tried to convince me to convince the compulsion, which was a futile effort," he snorted.

"Yes, but I should have at least tried that. I should have had the faith in you that she had that you could resist it."

That was one of the most ridiculous things she had ever said; though, he was smart enough not to tell her that. She hadn't tried it because she knew it wouldn't work. He just needed to get her to see that.

After figuring out a logical argument Damon asked, "Addie, what is lost during compulsion?"

"Self-control," she quickly answered.

"Yes. Now, is that something I have a surplus of?" he questioned, unable to help the twitch at the corner of his lips.

Addie didn't answer right away. "With me and our relationship, yes. However, I generally consider you to be a victim of you own impulses. With this sire-bond thing, you most definitely do not have any self-control to spare. Actually, you've lost some of your self-control and the whole reason I want to help you break the bond is so you regain it," she replied, drifting slightly off track.

"That's right," Damon said encouragingly, resisting the strong temptation to press a kiss to her head. "If you know I have lost some of my self-control regarding the people that I love, the one area where I have any semblance of self-control, it would be safe to say that I am the perfect person to compel, right?"

Addie's lips pursued in disagreement as she saw the soundness of Damon's argument. It still didn't feel right to her and she wasn't going to let it go that easy.

"If you are that much of a victim to the compulsion, you would have fed on me by now to regain your strength and go after Jeremy," she countered.

Damon gave a low hum of consideration. "The urge to feed on you is about a million times stronger than ever before. It's hard to say if that's the severe blood loss or the compulsion. However, I'm not having a problem fighting it because I know how hungry I am, and I know how addicting your blood is. If I feed on you I will kill you. I refuse to kill you. I don't know if that is resisting the compulsion or if the compelled part of me is aware that I'm actually to weak to successfully attack and feed on you."

Damon felt hot tears on his neck as Addie whispered, "Yet, I risked killing you tonight."

"To save your brother."

"Would you have risked killing me to save Stefan?" she asked.

He knew the answer she wanted and needed to hear. He also knew she would know he was lying the second he said it. It was not that he loved Addie more than Stefan or vice versa. It was two completely different kinds of love. He needed his brother. Even when they were fighting or distant, he always had the safety of knowing Stefan was still there. They were meant to be together for eternity. While he had not known Addie for much of his very long life, she had completely turned his world upside down. She had shown him what it meant to be loved and to feel real love. She only had one life, and she'd already decided his time with her was limited.

"Stefan has lived several lives over. Yours has only just begun," he eventually answered.

A strangled, pitiful whine made its way from Addie's throat as she threw her head against the wall with a resounding _thump_.

"This, we," she declared, waving her hand between herself and Damon for emphasis, "are so fucked up. Maybe you deserve Elena. She loves you. She believes in you despite logic. She wouldn't shoot you! She would put you before her famil-"

"No," Damon interjected sharply, not caring if he was being rude. Again, he forced her to look at him. "I don't want Elena. I want the girl who uses logic. I want the girl that knows her priorities and won't regret her decisions. I want the girl that I'm in love with, and that I know is in love with me."

Addie closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Of course, she was in love with Damon, but it was too much. Their world was too much. She just wanted a normal life.

"Ads, I know I am asking a lot from you, but I will never be able to break this sire bond if you aren't there to believe in me," he murmured desperately, unable to resist tracing the full pout of her lips.

Her hand instinctively found its way over his heart despite her closed eyes. Her lips trembled as she fisted the fabric of his shirt. She was still hung up on having shot him.

Damon ran his hands through her hair, still perplexed by the brown strands, and hoped the action would help soothe her. "Addie, you and I are not fucked up because we get put into fucked up situations. You handled this evening like a champ when you shot me, and I need you to keep doing that. Everything turned out perfect. And even if it hadn't, you made the right call. You know I'm not lying when I say I wouldn't have wanted you to let me kill Jeremy."

"How can you say that?" she wondered, her voice cracking dangerously. A tidal wave of tears threatened to return.

"Because that would have left you demolished and part of you would always hate me. Those are two things I never want to come to pass," he replied easily. "You have to find some way to let this go, Ads. Can you work on that for me?"

"I will work on that," she whispered as she focused on her grip on his shirt, "because you need me here to believe in you and I will be here."

"Good," Damon murmured, allowing his head to drop to Addie's shoulder. He was growing weaker again. "You dyed your hair."

"Yes, back to my original brown with some lighter brown highlights," she replied, a slight tenseness to her voice. "Do you like it?"

As he considered his answer Damon inhaled deeply, catching a whiff of her familiar cucumber melon shampoo. It was annoying when he couldn't lie to her and he didn't know what the truth was.

"You're beautiful no matter what color your hair looks like. However, I would not like it if you changed the shampoo and conditioner you use; I've become far to use to smelling like cucumber melon," he decided. "I'm more interested in why you decided to change it. You usually do when you get bored… or Katherine suggests it. And if you did it because Katherine told you to, don't tell me. I can't handle her being back in town on top of everything else."

Addie snorted bitterly. "I'm not even going to say her name. I heard a rumor that if you say her name three times she appears like Beetlejuice. You already said it twice."

Damon gave a soft, weak chuckle. He wanted to comment that he was surprised she even knew that movie but wanted to conserve his strength.

"I actually changed it back because she was the one who originally made me change it to get your attention. She thought I looked too much like Elena with brown hair. Maybe now, in trying to break the sire bond, looking more like Elena isn't such a bad idea," Addie admitted, her words trailing off sheepishly.

"Elena has dark chocolate brown hair; you had cherry chocolate brown hair before You-Know-Who made you dye it. I've always noticed you, Ads," muttered Damon, fighting to keep his eyes open.

"You're about to pass out again, aren't you?"

"I'm fighting not to."

Addie's lips pressed into a thin line as the anger she had kept at bay all day came flooding back. Unable to stop herself she hissed, "You agreed to let Jeremy fight a bar full of vampires compelled to kill him."

"Well, after I shot Klaus in the head, he threatened to make a move against you unless I agreed to a mass slaughter. I didn't know he'd have them compelled to kill your brother," Damon explained, his words coming out slower as he fought against the growing ache in his throat.

Addie couldn't resist rolling her eyes. Klaus likely backed Damon into a corner for shooting him. "Why were you stupid enough to do that?"

"I was gonna stop after I hit him for kissing you but then he reminded me that you broke up with me and I lost it."

"Did you even think about the consequences of your actions?" Addie demanded sharply.

"No."

Truthfully, his actions didn't matter. Klaus had come to the lake house with the intention of growing Jeremy's mark. Klaus compelled the vampires because Jeremy refused to kill innocent people. The fact that he shot Klaus didn't do anything except give Damon a bit of satisfaction. However, he was too drained and too distracted by the feeling of pins all over his body to argue this with her.

"As I said, you're a victim of your impulses," she seethed.

Shards of ice scraped through the veins in Damon's neck as he forced his head to lift to look Addie in the eye. His words were scratchy and urgent as he insisted, "Stay close to Stefan. Let him protect you. Klaus -"

"Shh," soothed Addie, her anger immediately dissipating as her hand came up to cup Damon's cheek. His face was paler than paper. "You don't have to worry about him."

"Yes. Don't underestimate hi-"

Damon's word abruptly broke off as his eyes rolled back into his head as his body slumped over.

"Everything good?" Stefan asked as he poured himself his third tumbler of bourbon when he heard Addie walk into the study.

"If by that you're asking whether or not I remember to lock him in, then yes. If you mean by _good_ , well, I know you overheard us," Addie retorted as she flung herself into the couch.

Stefan gave a single nod of understanding. Absolutely nothing about her current situation was good. He poured a second tumbler and passed it to her. "You definitely deserve one of these."

"Thanks," she said gratefully, taking the glass.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked as he sat next to her.

"How Damon risked my brother's life because Klaus threatened mine? How Damon tried to kill my brother for the second time? How I don't have a right to be mad at him about any of that because I could have killed him tonight? I mean, you're gonna have to be specific when you reference _it_ ," Addie pointed out, forcing a dark, bitter laugh.

"Fair enough. I was actually referring to why Damon thinks I need to protect you from Klaus."

Addie slammed back the bourbon like a shot, knowing Damon would be appalled by her actions. The toffee and smoky flavor weren't even noticeable due to the warming, distracting burn of the alcohol. As the feeling faded she shrugged, "He's Damon. He's always been overprotective."

"Unless he isn't, in this case. Klaus has always been particularly interested in you," challenged Stefan. Even more suggestively he added, "Apparently he's _really_ interested in you."

"Because he kissed me?" She shook her head, unconvinced at the idea. "Klaus wants to control me. He's intelligent and understands people. When he held me hostage over the summer he was observing me, studying me. He can't control me with brute force. He can manipulate me by using the ones I love but that just breeds hatred, hostility, and the desire to resist. He's trying to control me through what he thinks is kindness and respect. And, honestly, I'd never be foolish enough to assume I could control Klaus, but treating him with more kindness and respect than the rest of you _has_ produced more favorable results. His logic isn't flawed."

Stefan watched the amber liquid swirl in his glass. In his opinion, it was far more likely Klaus had kissed Addie because he lusted after her. He had watched Klaus watching her, and it was never with the malicious gleam he reserved for everyone else. Plus, Addie had always seemed to understand him in a special way. Perhaps Damon's irrational jealousy over Klaus hadn't been so misplaced. Although, Addie seemed completely blind to any potential feelings from the hybrid.

"Why does he want to control you?" he wondered.

Not missing a beat, Addie quickly answered, "Because he wants to control everyone."

"No," Stefan smirked at her snappy return. "He's fixated on you. He has no problem manipulating everyone else but he wants to control you. Why?"

Addie sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. She didn't want to explain everything to Stefan; it was too intimate.

Finally, she shared, "The Cure is no longer Klaus' end goal. After all the times our bumbling group has betrayed him, he's probably right to believe we will betray him again or fail in getting the cure."

When she was silent for several minutes Stefan encouraged, "What's his new goal?"

"Witches made Hunters to destroy monsters. There is a limited number of Hunters and they have to be activated. Basically, the chances of a Hunter succeeding is pretty low. However, witches are creatures of balance, so they made something to create monsters. Again, there's a limited number of them and they have to be activated, thus, a low success rate," Addie informed him emotionlessly.

Knowing how witches worked, Stefan groaned, "And whatever makes monsters has to have blood link to whatever destroys monsters?'

"Yep," confirmed Addie as she grabbed Stefan's glass and drained the rest of the contents. "Has to be the full blood sister of a Hunter."

"Making you eligible," nodded Stefan, getting up to refill both of their glasses. "Have you been, uh, activated or whatever?"

"Yes," Addie growled, recalling how Klaus had nearly ripped her heart out and then fed her his blood. After that he was able to drink her blood and that confirmed to him she was activated. But Damon could also drink her blood after building up her resistance to compulsion. He was the one who had first activated her. Was she limited to bearing the monsters of people who could drink her blood? No…. Her ancestor gave birth to a werewolf child. Did it matter who activated her? Klaus had wanted to make sure he could drink her blood. Had that only been because he was uncertain if Damon had activated her status as an Echidna?

"So, whether or not we cure Elena, Klaus plans to use you to somehow make more, what, hybrids?"

Part of the horror was that she wasn't sure that the creatures would be hybrids. _Mother of all monsters._

"Basically," she answered, taking the glass he offered her.

"And the only reason he isn't putting this plan into action now is because he rather you willingly do it than force you into it?" he said, his eyebrows practically meeting his hairline.

"Basically," Addie repeated.

Stefan took a long drag from his tumbler. That was not going to turn out well. Addie would never willingly be involved in the creation of more supernatural beings. And Klaus was not a patient man. In fact, as soon as one of them pissed him off bad enough, he would probably force Addie to do what he wanted.

"I honestly don't know what to tell you," admitted Stefan.

"I'm not worried about it," she lied. "I can handle Klaus. I bought some time. I told him I want him to prove that his plan is going to work. Once he does that, well…."

She hadn't figured out how she was permanently going to evade Klaus, but the entire reason she had left Jeremy with Damon was to visit the gynecologist. Her father, being a proactive doctor, had put both her and Elena on birth control the second they got their periods. Addie wouldn't put it past Klaus to eventually start checking and sabotaging her medications, though. Plus, she wasn't exactly the best about taking it. The simple solution had been to get a single shot that would theoretically keep her covered from any fertilization ideas Klaus had for three months. If she could keep that up in secret, her plan could potentially go on indefinitely.

She'd only wished she'd gotten to tell Damon about her plan to put his mind at ease.

"What are we going to do about Damon?" Addie asked longingly, desperate for a subject change.

"Keep him down there until Elena's no longer sired and he's no longer compelled," he suggested brightly. After taking a sip from his glass, he raised it in a salute and added, "And keep drinking his bourbon."

She frowned disapprovingly, "You're enjoying this."

"No. To enjoy it, I'd have to give a damn about what Damon and Elena do, but I don't. In fact, I told her exactly that when she came by here to see him," insisted Stefan.

"When was this?" Addie demanded in confusion.

"While you were down with Damon."

"He didn't mention she was here."

"He probably didn't know; as weak as he is his hearing wouldn't have been able to detect all the way upstairs," explained Stefan, giving an indifferent shrug. "Besides, it's probably for the best. If he knew, he might have done something stupid, like told her to set him free or to kill Jeremy for him."

Addie shook her head certainly, "Elena wouldn't do that."

"She wouldn't have a choice because of the sire bond."

It wasn't fair to any of them, thought Addie as she scowled at the dregs of her glass.

"Since you're basically a sitting target for Klaus, I would like it if you stayed here or at your house while Damon's on lockdown," decided Stefan, as he stood up and began to gather up their drinkware. "If you need to move from one location to the other, I will escort you."

She scoffed incredulously, "Um, no? I don't even listen to Damon when he puts me on house arrest; what makes you think I'm going to listen to you?"

He stopped what he was doing and looked at her seriously, "Because Damon will literally kill me if something happens to you while you are under my care. I don't think you'd want that on either one of your consciences."

"I hate you," she pouted, knowing she would do as he requested because he was right. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to leave Damon with enough blood so that he doesn't desiccate overnight, and then I'm going to pay Rebekah a social call. While I'm gone, _do not_ go within arm's reach of the cellar door; I don't want him trying to feed on you," scolded Stefan, as if she had already done something wrong.

"God, _Dad,_ I know! I'm not dumb!" she retorted, channeling all her teenage rebellion and sarcasm. "But why are you paying Rebekah a visit a social call so late? Can't it wait until tomorrow? And seriously, what are you doing with her? Do you not recall that she tortured you brother?" she reminded him hotly.

Stefan's head slightly tilted in mild wonder as he again reflected on how Addie was definitely not the type of girl his brother would usually go for. She was so naive and innocent.

Curious to her reaction he stated bluntly, "I'm going to go sleep with her."

Initially her cheeks turned the color of McIntosh apples, but she rapidly steeled herself and quizzically replied, "Revenge sex seems like the actions of someone deeply upset by the fact that his ex-girlfriend is in love with his brother."

"It's not revenge sex. If it was revenge sex, I would be sleeping with you because it would hurt both Damon and Elena. I mean, _that_ would drive both of them insane," he chuckled darkly at the thought. "It's just sex to have sex because it's fun. And now that I recall the 20's, I remember just how fun it was with Rebekah."

"That's not the whole truth," Addie noted hopefully, detecting the slightest hint of deception from him. He wasn't going to visit Rebekah for just sex. Sex with no emotions was something Damon would do; she'd always held Stefan to a higher standard.

"We stole the tombstone needed to get the cure from Professor Shane today. Now I need to get it back from her since I left it with her to come help my idiot brother," he answered, unable to hide his distaste when he mentioned Damon.

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she tried to understand. "So, it's manipulation sex?"

"No," he said with a short bark of laughter as he began to leave the room. Over his shoulder he called, "The sex is just for fun."

Addie made a noise of disapproval as she slumped back into the couch and watched him leave the room. She actually was mad at Stefan on Elena's behalf. The guy shouldn't be able to move on so quick. Of course, if Damon _wasn't_ resisting the sire bond, they probably would have already slept together. Maybe sex just wasn't as big of a deal to everyone else as it was to her.

"Hey!" Addie greeted eagerly into the phone when she saw _Jer Bear_ appear on the caller ID. "How's your arm?"

"It's fine. He didn't bite me deep. It only needed some bandaging. Actually," he started with an awkward laugh, "I did more damage to myself luring him to me. I had to get a few stitches in my hand."

Addie ran her shaking fingers through her hair, the strands still damp from her shower. With immense dread, she sunk onto the edge of Damon's bed. "Jer, I'm so sorry abo-"

"Addie, listen to me," Jeremy interrupted, using his I'm-older-so-I-know-better voice. "None of this is your fault. In fact, the only reason I'm alive right now is because of you. I owe you more thanks than I could ever give you. I don't know how I could ever repay you."

She traced a thread pattern on the silken duvet and softly confessed, "I couldn't have done it if Damon hadn't made me fire at him before."

Jeremy let out a long breath, "Well, I'm not thanking him but I will admit that he is a capable trainer and I probably hadn't been working as hard as I should have been."

"I wouldn't expect you to thank him," she snorted. "I don't know how I feel towards him because, yes, he was compelled but doesn't there always seem to be some excuse for his bad behavior? He's compelled. He's sired. He's impulsive. He's -"

"Er, Addie," Jeremy's eyes awkwardly flashed across the kitchen table in the Gilbert house to look at Elena, aware that she could overhear every word. He had to stop Addie before she said something she regretted. "Look, Elena and I were just calling you because we think we know how to break Damon's compulsion and finish my mark."

"Oh," she said dumbly, realizing Elena could overhear her conflictions about Damon. Eager to change the subject she asked, "What are you guys thinking?"

"Kol's line of vampire has to extend to the moon by now. If I kill him, I kill everyone he's ever turned. That has to be enough to complete the Hunter's mark. Plus, killing Kol breaks his compulsion on Damon," her brother explained excitedly.

Addie rolled her eyes, even though she knew he couldn't see her. Exasperated, she sarcastically commented, "Excellent plan, Holmes! However, Klaus is not going to be ok with that, no matter how badly he wants the cure."

"I incurred that it was a delightfully brilliant plan, Watson," replied Jeremy in an English accent. In his normal voice he continued brightly, "Bonnie has all this insane new power and she's sure she can trap Klaus."

"For how long?" Addie asked skeptically.

"Long enough for us to get the cure."

Morally, it wasn't something she agreed with. Kol deserved to be killed. But did every one of his descendants? Probably not. It was also reckless. They were going to royally piss off the remaining Originals.

"What do you plan to do about Rebekah? She's just as volatile as Klaus. She won't tolerate us killing her brother."

"We use a dagger on Rebekah to keep her out of the picture. Once we get the cure we use it on Klaus and Rebekah and neither one of them matter anymore. It's a perfect plan, Addie!" Jeremy insisted, uncertain of why it wasn't obvious to his younger sister.

Addie didn't trust it. Klaus and Rebekah would get revenge for the murder of Kol. As would Elijah, wherever he was. Plus, it was morally wrong to kill off all the descendants. A better idea was to use a dagger on Kol and let Jeremy slowly slay his way through a bunch of vampires to build the mark.

"What do you need from me?" she demanded, knowing they weren't just calling her to get approval for their plan.

"Damon has the White Oak stake. I need it to slay Kol."

Addie bit at her lip as she considered that. Damon had expressly gone against her wishes and risked Jeremy's life all to avoid pissing off Klaus. She highly doubted he would give up the location of the stake for a plan that would so clearly piss him off, even if Bonnie was going to take care of him and the plan was to turn him human. Their plans never happened like they thought they would. And, frankly, she didn't want to ask Damon because she didn't want to be involved in the murder of possibly innocent vampires.

"Stefan knows where the stake is. You have a better chance of convincing him to go along with this," she replied in a clipped voice, having made her decision.

"Add-"

"I can't help, Jer. I'm sorry," Addie told him quickly before hanging up the phone.

It was unfair of her to put the burden on Stefan, but she didn't want her or Damon to be held responsible for Kol being killed. It was entirely selfish, but it terrified her to think of how Klaus might take it out on her. In fact, he might take it out on her for simply _knowing_ about the plan and not warning him.

Addie placed a second phone call as she rifled through Damon's dresser to pull out a pair of pajama pants. The floor of the cellar was cold. She tugged the satin pants over his pair of lucky boxers, printed with bright yellow smiley faces. She was heading downstairs when the other person picked up.

"Addison? Is everything alright?" came a slightly rough, accented voice from the other end of the call.

"I'm sorry," she quickly apologized, pulling the phone away from her ear to check the time. It was just after midnight. "Did I wake you?"

"Yes, but that's quite alright," Klaus reassured her quickly. "I'm sure it's important if you're calling me in the middle of the night."

Her eyebrows pinched together as she considered this aloud, "Possibly. I mean, it might have been able to wait until morning. Although, I never know how fast things are going to move once people start talking about something. Some ideas take months; others take hours. I'm not-"

"You're rambling, Addison," interjected Klaus. Insightfully he asked, "What has you so worried?"

Sitting on the bottom of the stairs she replied in a monotone voice, "I had to shoot Damon in the heart to keep him from killing Jeremy."

She could hear a faint rustle of movement, as if Klaus was sitting up. After a long silence he asked, "With a wooden bullet?"

"Yes. He'll be ok, though; I only nicked his heart. He just lost a lot of blood," she explained, again reassuring herself and knowing he was curious as to whether or not Damon was still alive.

"I'm sorry you had to do that."

"Me too," she spat bitterly. Checking her tone, she continued more evenly, "I had to do it because you failed to control Kol. Kol compelled Damon to kill Jeremy. Damon is still compelled. Kol will stop at nothing to stop us from getting the cure."

"Do you have a way of keeping Damon from Jeremy?" he asked.

Addie scoffed in disbelief, "Yes, of course. We have Damon weakened and locked in the cellar. That's not the point. Your brother needs to be stopped!"

"I will have a word with Kol," decided Klaus.

"You already tried that. My friends and family plan to have more than a word with Kol," she emphasized.

Klaus' words came out more alert and sharper as he demanded, "What do you mean? Speak plainly."

"They know he's not going to stop trying to kill Jeremy. They want to take him out before he succeeded. Plus, if they kill Kol, Jeremy finishes his mark instantly," she explained softly.

"I will not allow that," roared Klaus.

Addie winced at the loud noise. Calmly she advised, "Then you need to stop Kol first. You've daggered him before. It's time that you do it again. If you don't, my family and friends _will_ try to kill him, Klaus."

"How soon are they going to try?" he asked, his breathing ragged.

Tugging at her hair, she sighed thoughtfully, "Honestly, I don't know. They don't have the stake at the moment, but I don't think it would take them long to get it. I'd imagine you have a day or two at most to take care of Kol."

"Addison, I _don't_ have a dagger," stressed Klaus.

"I suggest you get one. And fast."

Suddenly suspicious, he demanded, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm warning you because family is just as important to you as it is to me," she easily lied. She was warning him to save her own skin, but the more he believed it was because of a personal connection, the more she could try to manipulate him later on. "Klaus, I already lied and told them I couldn't get them the White Oak stake. I'm betraying them by telling you their plan because I know how much it would hurt you to lose your brother. You need to dagger Kol if you want to save him."

The phone was silent for several minutes.

"With Jeremy's mark complete, you could go after the cure and fix your sister, break her sire bond with Damon," Klaus said softly.

"Honestly, I hadn't considered that killing Kol would break the sire bond," she laughed. Klaus would try to kill Elena if she killed Kol; _that_ would break the sire bond. What she had considered and didn't understand was why he hadn't already brought it up, was that Klaus would seek revenge if Elena and Jeremy killed Kol.

Klaus made a noise eerily similar to a purr. "So, in a matter of tonight, you've shot Damon in the heart and decided that breaking the sire bond isn't that important. Good to know. Good night, Addison."

Before she had the chance to correct him, Klaus had disconnected the call. Addie scowled at her cell phone in disgust. She and Damon _would_ break the sire bond, but not in such a reckless plan.

However, she understood what Klaus had been alluding to. She had put Jeremy and Elena before Damon with no struggle. Perhaps her feelings for Damon weren't as strong as she believed.

Addie mulled over this as she grabbed a throw cushion and pillow of the couch and headed towards the cellar. Logically, she knew Damon was alive and going to be ok, and he couldn't get out to hurt Jeremy, but she still wanted to sleep outside the door of his cell just in case he got too weak or too strong.

 **A/N:.Major reveals in the next chapter: Addie, Klaus and Damon locked in a small room. QUESTION: How do you think this chapter impacted Damon's role in the sire bond?! ;)**

 **Wow! Thank you guys so much for all the reviews and comments. I appreciate all the feedback! It's always a great reminder to write more, especially DMs. Also, I ALWAYS try to include what you mention in your comments into the story. are yall feeling Addie/Damon or Addie/Klaus???**


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